Dear Friends in Christ,

It was a great joy to be able to celebrate Mass this morning for our new Pope Leo XIV.

The opening prayer from the Roman Missal did not ask that the successor of Peter would be successful in this life, but that he would gain eternal life.

Our Gospel this Sunday, when we listen to Christ as the Good Shepherd, has this theme too:

“The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice;
I know them and they follow me.
I give them eternal life;
They will never be lost
and no one will ever steal them from me.”

May Pope Leo receive all the graces he will need in the time ahead; and may the Church and the world be blessed by his ministry.