{"id":9520,"date":"2025-09-18T20:30:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T20:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=9520"},"modified":"2025-09-18T21:09:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T21:09:51","slug":"pope-leo-xiv-world-citizen-21st-century-missionary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/pope-leo-xiv-world-citizen-21st-century-missionary\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo XIV: World Citizen, 21st Century Missionary"},"content":{"rendered":"
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St. Peter’s Square and Basilica, Vatican City.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Someone’s written a book about Pope Leo XIV: “Le\u00f3n XIV: ciudadano del mundo, misionero del siglo XXI”; or “Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the 21st Century”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book, in Spanish, was released today, September 18, 2025. I gather it’ll be available in English next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A whiff of this biography, and a recent interview, popped up in my news feed, along with the usual sound and fury. Since I prefer reading specifically “Catholic” news through outlets that aren’t marinated in my native culture, I did a little digging and came up with this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>“I Appreciate Everyone” \u2014 But \u2014<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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“Pope Leo sees role as one of building bridges, avoiding polarization<\/a>”
Salvatore Cernuzio, Vatican News (September 18, 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“…Asked about how he sees the papacy, Pope Leo highlighted the ‘pastoral part’ of his new role, especially the ‘outreach to people of all ages.’ ‘I appreciate everyone, whoever they are, what they come with, and I listen to them\u2026 So, there’s an aspect of being pastor of the universal Church that I think is very significant, and I think one of the things people appreciate is that,’ he said….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“…What is new, he said, is his role as a world leader. ‘I’m learning a lot about how the Holy See has had a role in the diplomatic world for many years,’ he said. ‘I’ve always tried to stay up on the news, but the role of pope is certainly new to me.’ Here, too, he said, ‘I’m learning a lot and feeling very challenged, but not overwhelmed.” …”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Nothing really surprising there, which didn’t surprise me a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vatican News doesn’t try being ‘dramatic’ in the American sense, and I expected that our 267th pope would be Catholic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two other outlets, closer to home, said pretty much what the Vatican News piece did, although from a more ‘American’ viewpoint:<\/p>\n\n\n\n