By Andrea Tornielli
“I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family.”
Pope Leo XIV presented himself with those words on Sunday, May 18, at the Mass of Inauguration of his Petrine Ministry. He is a missionary bishop, grandson of migrants, and the 267th Bishop of Rome.
The simple and profound words of the homily at the Mass represent a guide for his pontificate that speaks to us of an ‘otherness’ and his unique style.
It could be said his words show an otherness, because in our world so marked by wars, hatred, violence, and division, the humble word of the Successor of Peter proclaims the Gospel of love, unity, compassion, fraternity—a God who wants us one family.
His words seek to bear witness to love, dialogue, and understanding, to overcome hatred and war that begin in the human heart, whether one takes up arms against a brother or crucifies him with the arrogance of words that wound like stones.
His is also a unique style, because Pope Leo XIV recalled that the ministry of Peter is to be as servus servorum Dei, or “Servant of the servants of God.”
His is a service of love and a giving one’s life for others, and he recalled that “the Church of Rome presides in charity and its true authority is the charity of Christ.”
“It is never a question of capturing others by force, by religious propaganda or by means of power,” he said. Every age is tempted to do just that—through collateralism, structures, protagonism, religious marketing, and strategies.
“Instead, it is always and only a question of loving as Jesus did,” said the Pope.
Thus, “Peter must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him.”
On the contrary, he is asked to love more. He “is called serve the faith of his brothers and sisters, and to walk alongside them.”
These words show us a glimpse of the icon of the Good Shepherd that Pope Francis so often proposed.
It is the image of the shepherd who walks before the flock to lead it; among the flock to accompany it, without feeling superior or separate; and also behind the flock, to ensure that none are lost and to gather the last, those most fatigued by the journey.
The missionary Bishop, who today sits on the Chair of Peter, invites us to proclaim the Gospel of love, “not closing ourselves off in our small groups, nor feeling superior to the world.”
The Church is a people of forgiven sinners, ever in need of mercy, who for that very reason should shy away from any superiority complex, as followers of a God who chose the way of weakness and humbled himself by accepting death on the cross to save us.
“We are called to offer God’s love to everyone,” said Pope Leo XIV, to be “a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.”
At the inauguration of his pontificate, Pope Leo invites us to cast our gaze far, to go forth to confront the questions, the restlessness, and the challenges of today. – Vatican News
