Continue Francis’ legacy, Leo urges cardinals
VATICAN CITY—Pope Leo XIV said he would continue with the vision and reforms of Pope Francis, telling the world’s Catholic cardinals that his predecessor left a “precious legacy” they must continue.
Also on Saturday the Pontiff took his first trip outside the Vatican, heading about an hour’s drive east of Rome to the small town of Genazzano for a visit to a Catholic shrine, then stopping on the way back to pay respects at the tomb of Francis.
A statement by the Vatican said he told people at the shrine that he wanted to pray for guidance in the first days of his papacy.
Opening the Church
Leo waved from the passenger side of the Volkswagen he was riding as he arrived at Rome’s St. Mary Major Basilica. Entering the church to a few shouts of “Viva il papa” (Long live the pope), he walked slowly to Francis’ tomb, laying a white flower on it, then for a few moments knelt in prayer.
In his first meeting with all the cardinals since his election as pontiff on May 8, Leo asked the senior clerics to renew their commitment to major Church reforms enacted by the landmark Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.
Leo said Francis, who died on April 21 and broadly had a vision of opening the staid 1.4-billion-member Church to the modern world, had left an “example of complete dedication to service.”
“Let us take up this precious legacy and continue on the journey,” the new Pope instructed the cardinals.
He also asked the clerics to “renew together our complete commitment” to the reforms enacted by the Council, which included celebrating the Mass in local languages rather than Latin and pursuing dialogue with other religions.
Leo cited Francis’ focus on “courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world in its various components and realities.”
