Bishop Kevin Doran welcomes election of Pope Leo XIV

Bishop Kevin Doran, who is Bishop of Achonry and Bishop of Elphin, has welcomed the election of Pope Leo XIV.

69-year-old Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost from Chicago becomes the first ever American to become Pontiff and has taken the name Pope Leo XIV.

He replaces Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, April 21st.

Following the announcement in the Vatican yesterday, Bishop Doran said:

“God bless Pope Leo XIV and give him the wisdom and courage he needs for his new mission as Vicar of Christ.

“The fact that the election was completed as quickly as it was tells me that there was significant unity among the Cardinals about what the Church needs.

“Quoting Saint Augustine, Pope Leo said: 'With you I am a Christian and for you I am a bishop'.

“In that way he seems to signal his commitment to a synodal Church in which we walk together, listen to one another, and listen to the Word of God, but also a Church is which recognises the particular pastoral and teaching mission of the Bishop of Rome.

“Born in Chicago, a missionary from Peru, living and working in Rome, Pope Leo communicates well in many languages,” he outlined.

Bishop Doran said the new Pope’s episcopal motto is ‘One in the One’, “meaning that, as Christians, we find our unity in the person of Jesus. With the help of God, he will be a Shepherd who gathers together the scattered children of God.

“Pope Leo’s focus on peace and on dialogue gives me great hope. His choice of the name Leo is significant, because the previous Pope Leo (Leo XIII) is the Pope who, in very troubled times, initiated the Social Teaching of the Church, which focuses on the dignity of human work, on rights and responsibilities associated with property, justice and peace, integral development and care of the earth.

“I encourage all our Catholic people to pray for him and, in whatever way possible, to work with him,” said the Bishop.