Leo XIV Quotes

We still keep in our ears that weak but always courageous voice of Pope Francis who blessed Rome! The Pope who blessed Rome gave his blessing to the world, to the whole world, that morning of Easter Day. Allow me to follow up that same blessing: God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! We are all in God’s hands. Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and we move forward with each other. We are disciples of Christ. Christ is before us. The world needs its light. Humanity needs Him as the bridge to be reached by God and His love. Help us too, then one another to build bridges, with dialogue, with encounter, all by uniting us to be one people always at peace. Thank you to Pope Francis!

I always had the impression of a man who wanted to live the Gospel authentically, consistently. In the days when I was Prior General of the Augustinians, several times during visits to my brothers in Argentina, when he was still a cardinal, I had the opportunity to meet him and speak with him, informally and on more institutional matters'.

Fratelli carissimi, vorrei concludere questa prima parte del il nostro incontro facendo mio – e proponendo anche a voi – l’auspicio che San Paolo VI, nel 1963, pose all’inizio del suo Ministero petrino: "Passi su tutto il mondo come una grande fiamma di fede e di amore che accenda tutti gli uomini di buona volontà, ne rischiari le vie della collaborazione reciproca, e attiri sull’umanità, ancora e sempre, l’abbondanza delle divine compiacenze, la forza stessa di Dio, senza l’aiuto del Quale, nulla è valido, nulla è santo".

To all of you, brothers and sisters of Rome, of Italy, of the whole world, we want to be a synodal Church, a Church that walks, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, which always seeks to be close especially to those who suffer.

A bishop must not be a little prince sitting in his kingdom.

Ideologies have become more powerful than humanity's real experience, faith, and the different values we live by. Some will misunderstand unity as uniformity: ‘You must be like us.’ No, it cannot be so. Nor can diversity be understood as a way of living without criteria or order. The latter lose sight of the fact that since the very creation of the world, the gift of nature, the gift of human life, the gift of so many different things that we experience and celebrate, cannot be sustained by inventing my own rules and doing things my way. These are ideological positions. When an ideology becomes, so to speak, the master of my life, then I can no longer dialogue with another person because I have already decided how things will be. Therefore, I am closed to encounter and transformation cannot take place. And this can happen anywhere in the world, on any subject. This obviously makes it very difficult to be Church, to be community, to be brothers and sisters.

From an interview of Tiziana Campisi, Prevost: dal Papa una nuova responsabilità, comunione e unità priorità della missione, Vatican News (10 July 2023)

Peace be with you all! Dear brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the Risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave his life for the flock of God. I too would like this greeting of peace to enter your heart, to reach your families, to all people, wherever they are, to all peoples, to all the earth. Peace be with you! This is the peace of the Risen Christ, an unarmed peace and a disarming, humble and persevering peace. He comes from God, God who loves us all unconditionally.

Interviewer: You are an Augustinian. How does Augustinian spirituality characterise your ministry?
Cardinal Prevost: We could say several things... As my episcopal motto suggests, unity and communion are part of the charism of the Order of Saint Augustine and also of my way of acting and thinking. I think it is very important to promote communion in the Church, and we know well that communion, participation and mission are the three key words of the Synod. So, as an Augustinian, promoting unity and communion is fundamental for me. St Augustine also speaks a lot about unity in the Church and the need to live it, about the fact that there is a certain guarantee of unity in listening to the Bishop of Rome, in being part of the Church of Rome. In this sense too, therefore, I feel that the Pope's new call is a way of living my unity and participation in the Church, in obedience to the Holy Father. This too is very Augustinian.
Interviewer: How much does the figure of Augustine inspire your choices, your steps, your service in the Church?
Cardinal Prevost: St Augustine is certainly a great figure not only for the order but for everyone. I wish I had more time to study and read him. He has so much to offer the Church, even the Church of today. Then there is what I said before: unity in the Church and fidelity to the Bishop of Rome, always seeking to promote communion. Living unity in the Church, as Augustine recommends, means living united in Christ.

Ho sempre avuto l'impressione di un uomo che voleva vivere autenticamente, con coerenza, il Vangelo. Ai Ai tempi in cui ero priore generale degli agostiniani, varie volte, durante le visite ai miei confratelli in Argentina, quando era ancora cardinale, ho avuto l’opportunità di incontrarlo e di parlare con lui, in maniera informale e su questioni più istituzionali.

Perseverance is a great gift that the Lord is ready to offer us. But we must learn to welcome it and make it come alive, to be strong. It is one of those gifts that are built up over time, in the small trials of the beginning that help us to be stronger, to be able to carry the Cross when it becomes heavier. It is what enables us and makes us capable of moving forward.

Being a good shepherd means being able to accompany God's people and live close to them, not being isolated. Pope Francis has said this clearly many times. He does not want bishops who live in palaces. He wants bishops who live in relationship with God, with the rest of the episcopate, with priests and, above all, with the people of God in a way that reflects the compassion and love of Christ, creating community, learning to live what it means to be part of the Church in an integral way that includes much listening and dialogue.

One of the things that comes to mind when I think of St Augustine, his vision and his understanding of what it means to belong to the Church, is what he says about not being able to say you are a follower of Christ without being part of the Church. Christ is part of the Church. He is the head. So anyone who thinks they can follow Christ ‘in their own way’ without being part of the body is, unfortunately, a distortion of what is an authentic experience. St Augustine has an omnipresent wisdom that helps us to live in communion. Unity and communion are essential charisms of the life of the Order and a fundamental part of understanding what the Church is and what it means to be in the Church.

I am a son of St. Augustine, an Augustinian, who said: “I am a Christian with you and a bishop for you.” In this sense we can all walk together towards that homeland that God has prepared for us. A special greeting to the Church of Rome! We must seek together how to be a missionary Church, a Church that builds bridges, dialogue, always open to receive like this square with open arms. All of them, all those who need our charity, our presence, dialogue and love.

Brother Cardinals, I greet and thank you all for this meeting and for the days that preceded it, days that were painful because of the loss of the Holy Father Francis, demanding because of the responsibilities we face together, and at the same time, according to the promise Jesus himself made to us, rich in grace and consolation in the Spirit. Your presence reminds me that the Lord who entrusted this mission to me does not leave me alone in bearing its responsibility. I know, first of all, that I can always, always count on his help, the help of the Lord, and, by his grace and providence, on your closeness and that of so many brothers and sisters throughout the world who believe in God, love the Church, and support the Vicar of Christ with their prayers and good works.