Prayers of all priests and people of Cork with Pope Leo, says bishop

The prayers of the all the priests and people of the Diocese of Cork and Ross were with Pope Leo XIV, Bishop Fintan Gavin said following the inauguration Mass of the new pope in Rome today while his counterpart in Cloyne said Leo would signal a period of both change and continuity for the Church.

Bishop Gavin and Bishop William Crean were speaking to The Echo after the inauguration Mass of Pope Leo XIV was celebrated in St Peter’s Square with hundreds of cardinals, bishops, and priests and before a congregation including world leaders and tens of thousands of Catholic faithful and other pilgrims.

“It was great to see church leaders and world leaders together gather with Pope Leo XIV at his inauguration Mass where he once again called for a united Church in communion with a missionary spirit that goes out from itself to offer God’s love to all,” said Bishop Gavin. “He is restating his appeal for peace.”

Bishop Crean, meanwhile, said Pope Leo XIV “is clearly a very gifted man, linguistically. He’s also a man with a missionary heart which, I’m sure, will be reflected in the way he approaches his task”. 

He pointed out Pope Leo’s worldwide travels while with the Prior of the Augustinian Order would have added to his perspective. 

“It’s a fresh voice but it’s a voice which will re-echo much of what Pope Francis has been saying,” he said, referring to the fact Pope Leo had been chosen personally by the late pontiff to come from his Bishopric in Peru to head the Congregation of Bishops in Rome.

“He was present at the synodal gatherings, the synod on synodality over two terms.”

Bishop Crean said one of the electors had said, before going into the conclave, in response to whether he and his fellow cardinals would opt for continuity or change that the choice was “to go forward and that includes both continuity and change and that has always been our way forward”.

In his homily, Pope Leo said he wanted to be a servant to the faithful through the two dimensions of the papacy, love and unity, so that the church could be a force for peace in the world.

“I would like that our first great desire be for a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world,” he said.

“In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalises the poorest.”