Robert Francis Prevost has become the 267th person to become Pope. He will be known as Pope Leo XIV.
According to Dennis Doyle, a theologian and professor emeritus of religious studies at the University of Dayton, a pope’s name indicates “a certain spirit and direction and vision of the new pope.”
“The first thing that you would look for would be, which popes had that name before?” he said. “That would signify something about the direction that the pope wants to take.”
Pope Leo XIV started his speech as the head of the Catholic Church with the words: “Peace be with you.”
He continued: “Dearest brothers and sisters, this was 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 hearts, to reach your families and all people, wherever they are; and all the peoples, and all the earth: Peace be with you.
“This is the peace of the Risen Christ, a disarming and humble and preserving peace. It comes from God. God, who loves all of us, without any limits or conditions. Let us keep in our ears the weak but always brave voice of Pope Francis, who blessed Rome – the Pope who blessed Rome and the world that day on the morning of Easter.”
