The echo still resounds in our hearts of all that the Lord gave us in the person and ministry of Pope Francis, whom just a few days ago we accompanied to his final resting place. Nevertheless, in the serenity of Faith, and rising above all human speculation, we, as Church, raised our prayer to the Most High, asking the grace to be granted a father who would guide us in God’s name. Thus, once again, we can attest that God is faithful and loves His People!
I am more than certain that the members of the Conclave, who met together with a great responsibility before them, made room for the Holy Spirit, who, in His eternal faithfulness, once again guided their discernment.
We clearly recall what St. Francis of Assisi wrote at the beginning of the Later Rule, both for himself and for all of us: “Brother Francis promises obedience and reverence to the Lord Pope Honorius and his canonically elected successors and to the Roman Church” (Later Rule I: 2; FF 76). And so, dear Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, with ecclesial devotion and the heartfelt emotion and trust of children, we thank God for His love for us and for your fiat. As you were speaking from the famous balcony at St. Peter’s Basilica, we already felt, along with the whole world, that you were the father we need, the one we want to obey.
In just a few days, we, the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, will begin our Ordinary General Chapter. Already we want to make your first call our own: to welcome the peace of the Risen One into our hearts and to offer it to the world; to welcome one another, and to remain united with each other and in Him.
May the Most High guide and protect you in your mission to proclaim to the world the Good News of the Risen One―the New Man and the New Creation He has begun―so that we may all live together in harmony and peace with all creation.
May the Holy Spirit be with you in proclaiming, with St. Augustine, that “In the one Christ, we are one.”[1]*
Friar Carlos A. TROVARELLI
Minister General
[1]* In Illo, uno unum, episcopal motto of Robert Francis PREVOST, Pope Leo XIV, taken from the sermon “Exposition on Psalm 127” by St. Augustine.
