The First Year of Pope Leo XIV’s Pontificate

When Pope Leo XIV stepped onto that balcony and bowed to the crowd, asking for our prayers before he gave his own, my heart opened in hope and joy.  It felt like we were about to begin a time alive in the Spirit, guided by a man deeply committed to Gospel truth and compassion.

Pope Leo XIV is constantly reminding us that to be like Jesus, we have to start by letting go of our own egos. His big invitation to us is pretty simple, but life-changing: he wants us to stop focusing on ourselves and start finding the quiet joy that comes from serving others, just like Christ did.

His motto,“In the One, we are one,” is a simple and powerful call to orient and ground ourselves in Christ and the unity created in shared discipleship. In this spirit, he has been building bridges in a world that seems so committed to division and oppression. 

I so appreciate his encouragement to develop the will and the skill to listen to one another. Leo XIV is calling us to look past our political or personal bubbles and see the face of God in the people we usually disagree with. He challenges us to be like Jesus by being the ones who start the conversation and make the first move toward peace.

Maybe the most powerful part of his first year is how he talks about the excluded and forgotten as the heart of the Church. He’s always saying that if we want to find Jesus, we have to go to the margins—to the people who are hurting. He’s inviting us to move from just feeling bad for people to actually standing beside them. For Leo XIV, being a follower of Jesus means making sure that the most vulnerable people are never left to walk alone; and making sure that we are grounded in mercy, compassion, and abiding hope.

Didi Madden OP – Sisters of St. Dominic, Blauvelt, New York, USA