A year ago today, Robert Prevost stepped onto the loggia of St Peter’s Basilica as Pope Leo XIV and uttered words that became a preview of the first year of his pontificate: “Peace be with you.” Source: OSV News.
Peace would perhaps become the most visible theme of his first year, as war flared in the Middle East and Pope Leo became a persistent, sometimes lone voice of moral authority for restraint and dialogue.
But the eight-minute speech that followed also contained many of the other major themes of his early pontificate: a vision of “a united Church,” theological rootness in St Augustine, the Pope’s missionary heart and a prioritisation of God above all else.
One year on, the first words with which Pope Leo chose to introduce himself to the world merit a close reading.
Not only was “peace” the very first word of Pope Leo’s pontificate, it was one of the most used words in his first speech. He highlighted “the peace of the Risen Christ” that “comes from God, God who loves us all unconditionally”.
“Peace,” however, was not Pope Leo’s most frequently used key word that day. That distinction belonged to “God” and other references to the Trinity. “The world needs his light,” he said of Jesus.
Pointing the world to God is a priority that Pope Leo has since felt compelled to clarify to journalists who sought to frame his papacy in political terms. His primary focus, he said, is not politics, but God, the source of peace.
From the loggia on May 8, 2025, he told the crowd gathered in St Peter’s Square that “God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail.”
Over the year that followed, Pope Leo put significant effort into elevating the signs of faith – he offered more than 65 public Masses, carried the Eucharist in procession through the streets of Rome on the feast of Corpus Christi, and then carried the cross for two key events: first through a crowd of 1 million young people during the Jubilee of Hope, and then through the darkness of night for all 14 Stations of the Cross on Good Friday in the Colosseum.
From the loggia, Pope Leo outlined his vision for the Church in a cascade of descriptive phrases: “a missionary Church,” “a Church that builds bridges,” “a synodal Church,” “a Church that always seeks peace,” “a faithful Church of Jesus Christ.”
But the very first descriptor he used to articulate his vision for the Church was “a united Church.”
FULL STORY
‘Peace be with you all’: Pope Leo’s first words were a roadmap for his first year (By Courtney Mares, OSV News)
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Pope Leo’s over 400 appeals for peace during first year of pontificate (Vatican News)
