Pope Leo XIV’s personal secretary has offered details regarding the daily spiritual life of the pontiff, whom he described as a man who “lives always in the constant presence of God”. Source: EWTN News.
The Pope goes through his day centred on prayer, silence and seeking God amid his responsibilities at the helm of the Church, said his personal secretary, Peruvian priest Fr Edgard Rimaycuna, in an interview released this week by the Order of St Augustine.
“From the very start of the day, he has his fixed times for prayer, including holy Mass and the recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours; we also pray the Rosary,” Fr Rimaycuna said.
The Pope’s personal secretary added that Leo XIV throughout the day “always seeks contact with God through silence and through prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel”.
According to Fr Rimaycuna, the pontiff’s spirituality is deeply influenced by the thought of St Augustine. “St Augustine used to say: God is so intimately within man that man himself is within himself,” he noted.
“The Holy Father seeks God within himself; he speaks with him, that is prayer,” he added.
The Peruvian priest said the Pope’s spiritual experience is subsequently reflected in his interactions with “the people with whom he works”.
This closeness, he noted, is manifested in “the time he gives to every person who seeks him out” and in the attention he pays to those who confide their difficulties or concerns to him.
Fr Rimaycuna also described Leo XIV as a patient and prudent man in the governance of the Church. “He is not a man of immediate decisions. He always thinks, listens, and takes into account even opposing views,” he stated.
The papal secretary also noted that one of the Holy Father’s greatest sources of suffering is the current wars. “He suffers a lot because of all of this,” he said, referring to the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, noting that Leo XIV’s first words after being elected Pope were a call for peace: “Peace be with all of you.”
Fr Rimaycuna asked the faithful to pray constantly for the Holy Father, given the spiritual weight the Pope bears in leading the universal Church.
“We can never offer too many prayers. The Holy Father will always need our prayers.”
FULL STORY
How does Pope Leo pray? (By Diego López Marina, EWTN News)
