Catholic groups are welcoming Pope Leo XIV—the second pope from the Americas, and the first US-born pontiff—who was elected on the second day of the conclave.
In particular, Catholic ministries based in the US expressed their joy over the selection of a pope with missionary experience.
Catholic Relief Services’ president and CEO Sean Callahan said the former Cardinal Robert F Prevost’s “global experience,” which includes two decades of living in Peru, “will surely have an impact on his papacy,” since “he has seen, firsthand, the struggles that our sisters and brothers around the world are experiencing.”
Callahan added Pope Leo XVI’s election “comes at a critical time for the global church” and he will be a “voice for the voiceless and a fierce supporter of human dignity for all people.”
Msgr Roger Landry, executive director of The Pontifical Missions Societies and Msgr Peter Vaccari, president of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, also praised the new pope’s missionary service, with Msgr Landry calling him “a missionary at heart.”
Curtis Martin, founder of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, also known as FOCUS missionaries, said in a statement that Pope Leo’s election serves as “a powerful reminder that the church is alive.” He added, “May we be inspired with fresh zeal to live as missionary disciples and bring the hope of the Gospel to a world longing for light.”