South Florida’s Catholic community is celebrating the historic selection of the first American pope, with Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski praising Pope Leo XIV not only as a “global citizen” shaped by missionary work in Peru, but also as a potential moral force strong enough to “hold back the barbarians” in a divided world.
Wenski spoke with Local 10’s Christina Vazquez Wednesday afternoon from the Archdiocese of Miami headquarters, praising the newly elected Pope Leo for his international experience and commitment to unity.
Because of the amount of time he spent as a missionary in Peru, Wenski described him to Vazquez more as a “global citizen.”
He also said the new pope’s American background could influence dialogue with U.S. leaders, especially on divisive issues like immigration.
“The Holy Father will certainly be able to speak the language of this current administration and perhaps do so in a very convincing way,” Wenski said. “Speaking from an American context, I can tell Americans they have nothing to fear from the other, from the stranger, because Jesus tells us that when we welcome the stranger, we welcome him.”
The archbishop added, “The migrant may be a stranger, but is still a brother and sister in Christ and should be embraced as such.
“In the past, many people were skeptical of an American pope because of the United States being a super power and they thought that might reflect poorly with American antecedents but this pope spent most of his life outside of the United States,” said Wenski.
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Wenski touched on the significance of Robert Francis Prevost, originally of Chicago, choosing the name Leo XIV, hinting at deeper meaning tied to church history and what may lie ahead for the Vatican under new leadership.
“Pope Leo the Great is the one that stopped Attila the Hun when he was about to sack Rome, so he held back the barbarians — and perhaps in this world today, we need someone to hold back the barbarians as well,” Wenski said.
He also referenced Leo XIII, known for establishing Catholic social teaching.
“That outlined the rights of working people, the right to organize, the right of unions, the idea of justice in the world,” Wenski said. “The fact that people should be subjects and not objects of people’s power or manipulation — I think the name choice says a lot about who this pope will be.”
Wenski also discussed the new pope’s sprightly age of 69.
“When you look at the age of the cardinal electors, they had those just a few days or weeks of being 80 and a couple that were just a few weeks or a few years after being 50, so in electing someone (at) 69, they went for the middle, and so they got some one that was not too old and too young and probably not too left and not too right,” he said. “They were looking for a man that would lead the church in a straight line.”
Elsewhere in South Florida, Father Manny Alvarez at the well-known Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables said the selection of Pope Leo the 14th is still sending shockwaves through the local catholic community in the best of ways.
He believes this new pope really sends a pro immigrant message similar to Pope Francis.
”Well I have to be honest I never thought they would elect an American Pope in my life,” said Alvarez. “We heard the Pope today from the balcony say we have to build bridges, and that’s part of Christianity, and so for here in South Florida, such a Catholic community here, and a Pope who is American but also spent most of his priesthood in Peru, it’s a joy for the Peruvian people and for Latin America, so it resonates with us here.”
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