A Statement from the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Most Rev. Anthony Fisher OP.
“Habemus papam” — we have a new pope, shepherd, father for the Church.
The Church in Sydney and Australia joins people throughout the world in giving thanks to God for the election of our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV.
A native of Chicago and a member of the Order of St Augustine, Pope Leo XIV spent decades as a missionary in Peru before being appointed by the late Pope Francis to lead the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops.
Like the late Pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV will bring to the Church the experience of being part of a religious order with an emphasis on simplicity and community. But he also brings a missionary heart with a determination to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ “to the ends of the earth”.
As a canon lawyer who has served for the past two years as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, he will also bring expertise in Church law and governance.
It was very moving that the Holy Father opened his first address to a watching world with a greeting of peace, and repeated the central truth of the Gospel, that God loves all of us “without any limits or conditions,” several times in his brief remarks.
It is our earnest hope that the Holy Father will join us in Sydney for the International Eucharistic Congress in 2028. It will be a joy to welcome him here.
I call on all Catholics and others of good will to get behind this pope with our prayers for him. May God bless him in his ministry