On Easter Monday we woke to the news that the Holy Father, Pope Francis had died. Although not surprising after his long illness it still was unexpected news that morning. Immediately we said a prayer for the repose of his soul. The seat was vacant as the world mourned his passing.
Dorothy and I travelled back to New Jersey that day from our Easter visits to Chicago and Michigan, so we had a lot of time to talk in the car. The conversation quickly turned to the question of who we thought would be elected as the next Pope. I commented that the speculators would certainly suggest many names, but no one really knew. She asked me what I thought of the possibility of Cardinal Prevost being elected. Coming from the south suburbs of Chicago and knowing of him through our common Augustinian connections, I thought that it would be great. I said there is no way that an American would ascend to the throne of Peter, but if it were to happen it would most likely be someone like Cardinal Dolan, Cupich or Burke. As members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher, Cardinal Pizzaballa, the Patriarch of Jerusalem came to mind. We recalled our audience with him in July of 2023 and thought of his offer to give himself in exchange for the hostages in Gaza just a few months afterward. He stands out as a noble man.
A conclave is defined as a private gathering “with a key”, meaning that no one from outside can enter and the deliberations inside are not to be divulged. Everyone speculated as is always the case, but no one really knew.
On May 8 I sat in my office working on one computer, with EWTN live on my other computer and the camera focused on the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. At noon I went to the Chapel here at the Blue Army Shrine. Silencing my cell phone to the vibrate mode I attended Mass. A few minutes later my pocket began to buzz once, twice, three times. I knew what it meant, white smoke. I nodded to Fr. Luke as he was finishing his homily, and he announced to those in attendance that we had a pope. Back in the office, my staff and I stood in front of the television, awaiting the new Holy Father. When Pope Leo XIV came out on the loggia I was filled with different emotions. Certainly, as a fellow Chicagoan and from my area of the city/south suburbs as well as our common Augustinian background there was a sense of joy. Being the same age and knowing of his background and body of work I felt that his dedication was unquestionable.
Fulfilling a Papal Legacy
What intrigues me the most is the name that he chose and what brought him to that decision. He speaks of Pope Leo XIII and his encyclical Rerum Novarum. He draws the parallel which motivated his predecessor to write that document and the present-day state of humanity. He sees the dangers that we face in the 21st century as a new version of what existed in 1891, the dehumanization of the person and the reduction of God’s created souls to simple commodities. One hundred thirty-four years later humanity is faced with many more dehumanizing threats. Rerum Novarum is considered the “Magna Carta” of modern Catholic social teaching. It was written as a counter to the Communist Manifesto which saw religion and Divine acknowledgement as a hindrance to a classless society. In fact, where atheistic communism was established, based on this model only elite despots ruled and the workers who were promised utopia found mostly despair and cultural pessimism. Today, particularly in the West there is a similar cultural pessimism, not based on material deprivation but abundant distractions in the digital age. I believe that His Holiness is properly focused on this issue.
After the election interviewers did their best to get the cardinals to divulge what they are sworn to secrecy to uphold. Many did, however, give an idea of the emotions that dominated the deliberations. “We did not come here to elect a replacement for Pope Francis,” stated Cardinal Dolan in an interview, “we came to elect the successor to St. Peter.”
I have been to the hometowns of each of the seven previous Holy Fathers of my lifetime. From Pius XII, born in Rome, the little town and home of St. Pope John XXIII in Sotto il Monte, Lombardia, St. Pope Paul VI in Lombardia, John Paul I in Veneto, where my paternal family hails from, Wadowice, Poland where St. John Paul II was born, the hometown of Pope Benedict XVI in Bavaria and to Buenos Aires, Argentina, the city of the late Pope Francis. To visit the hometown of Pope Leo XIV I simply must visit my old neighborhood in Chicago. Rather convenient.
In your charity I ask that you remember His Excellency Gerald Walsh, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York, who was an annual visitor to the Blue Army Shrine in NJ. His Excellency passed away on May 4. In 2015 when the Pope Francis came to New York I contacted him to see if he could provide us some tickets to the Mass at Madison Square Garden. He gladly helped. Arriving there we expected to be seated in the 2nd balcony, instead we were directed to the 7th row behind the mayor of New York. Processing out after the Mass he gave me a thumbs up with a big smile. Rest in Peace your Excellency.
God bless you and Mary keep you in her Immaculate Heart.
David M. Carollo Executive Director
If you would like to contact me, please do so at [email protected].
Enjoy this article? Watch our Executive Director David Carollo’s talk on May 13 for the 108th Anniversary of the First Apparition of Fatima:
David M. Carollo is the Executive Director of the World Apostolate of Fatima USA/National Blue Army Shrine. He wrote this for his Voice of Fatima column.
If you would like to comment on this post, please contact him at [email protected].
