Michael Higgins: Expect Pope Leo XIV to bring more liberal controversy
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The election of an American, Cardinal Robert Prevost, as Pope Leo XIV, is a surprising first, but many Vatican watchers will see the hand of Francis at work.
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Of the 133 cardinals who elected Prevost, 108 had been appointed by Francis — the equivalent of stacking the deck with liberals.
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Francis also appointed Prevost as head of the Dicastery of Bishops in Rome two years ago, a powerful position which meant he would have spoken and engaged with many of the world's cardinals. This familiarity would have boosted his prospects.
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Leo has already signalled that he intends to continue Francis's legacy, thanking him profusely in his speech from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica and talking of his 'courageous' voice.
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While that may delight many it will also anger those who felt the late pope was destroying the moral foundations of the papacy and the Church.
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In his speech Thursday, Leo promised to be a bridge builder.
'We must seek together how to be a missionary Church, a Church that builds bridges, dialogue, always open to receive like this square with open arms. Everyone — everyone who needs our charity, our presence, dialogue, and love.'
One of the key phrases was a 'synodal church' — a church where lay people play a greater part. And this is the legacy Francis wanted to ensure. A synodal church was Francis's greatest reform, his dream.
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It was also the reform that left conservatives angry on the basis that the Church isn't a democracy.
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In his speech, Leo pledged to receive and welcome everyone, but it's not going to be that easy.
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Even supporters of Francis were dismayed that he never went as far in his reforms as they wanted. Women deacons and gay marriage were too much for Francis as they almost certainly will be for Leo.
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Some of the biggest opponents of Francis were American conservative clergymen and Leo will be well acquainted with them. Like Francis, he will know his enemies.
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Some people will see changes such as synodality as 'inside baseball' but if the reforms can be long lasting and made institutional they could have a remarkable impact. Women deacons and gay marriage? Maybe not today, but tomorrow?
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Leo has already supported some liberal initiatives including allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion and allowing same-sex blessings.
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CTV News
12 hours ago
- CTV News
Pope Leo XIV renews his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza
A gust of wind blows Pope Leo XIV's mantel at the end of the noon Angelus prayer in the square in front of the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sunday, July 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy — Pope Leo XIV renewed his call on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, asking the international community to respect international laws and the obligation to protect civilians. 'I once again call for an immediate end to the barbarity of this war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,' the pontiff said at the end of his Sunday Angelus prayer from his summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo. Pope Leo also expressed his 'deep sorrow' for the Israeli attack on the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, which killed three people and wounded 10 others, including the parish priest. 'I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations,' the pope added. The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the Israel-Hamas war, now in its 21st month. Israel expressed regret over what it described as an accident and said it was investigating. 'We need to dialogue and abandon weapons,' the pope said earlier Sunday, after presiding over Mass at the nearby Cathedral of Albano. 'The world no longer tolerates war,' Leo told reporters waiting for him outside the cathedral.
CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
Christian patriarchs make rare visit to Gaza after deadly Israeli strike on church
Top church leaders visited Gaza on Friday after its only Catholic church was struck by an Israeli shell the day before, an attack that killed three people and wounded 10, including a priest who had developed a close friendship with the late Pope Francis. The strike drew condemnation from both the current Pope and U.S. President Donald Trump, and prompted a statement of regret from Israel, which said it was a mistake. Since ending a ceasefire in March, Israel has regularly launched deadly strikes across Gaza against what it says are Hamas militants, frequently killing women and children. Strikes killed 18 people overnight, health officials said Friday. Pope Leo XVI, meanwhile, renewed his call for negotiations to end the 21-month war during a Friday phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Vatican said. Church leaders organize aid, evacuations The religious delegation to Gaza included two patriarchs from Jerusalem — Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III. The rare visit was intended to express the "shared pastoral solicitude of the Churches of the Holy Land," a statement said. "We want to express our solidarity with our people, especially after the tragedy yesterday," Pizzaballa told a CBC News freelance journalist on Friday, adding that the patriarchs are appealing to the international community for a ceasefire. Israel has heavily restricted access to Gaza since the start of the war, though church leaders have entered on previous occasions, usually to mark major holidays. The delegation visited the Holy Family Catholic Church, whose compound was damaged in the shelling. They were also organizing convoys carrying hundreds of tonnes of food, medical supplies and other equipment to the territory — which experts say has been pushed to the brink of famine by Israel's war and military offensive — and the evacuation of those wounded in the church strike. "This visit is a rejection to what has taken place and a rejection of everything happening in this war," 60-year-old Elias Al-Jalda, a Christian activist in Gaza, told CBC News. In a call with Netanyahu, Pope Leo "expressed again his concern over the dramatic humanitarian situation for the population in Gaza, with children, the elderly and the sick paying the most heartbreaking price," the Vatican said in a statement. An Israeli official, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak on the record, confirmed that Netanyahu had placed the call and said the Vatican's account was accurate. In an earlier statement, the Pope had "repeated his intentions to do everything possible to stop the useless slaughter of innocent people," and condemned "the unjustifiable attack" on the church. WATCH | Father Gabriel Romanelli speaks about daily calls from Pope Francis: Pope Francis called this Gaza church almost every day until his death 3 months ago The Vatican said the Pope had also received an update on the condition of Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, the resident priest at the church, who was lightly wounded. The priest had regularly spoken by phone with Pope Francis, who died in April, telling the pontiff about the struggles faced by civilians in Gaza. Netanyahu released a statement Thursday saying Israel "deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza's Holy Family Church." The Israeli military said it was still investigating. 'We are unable to get them out' Israel has repeatedly struck schools, shelters, hospitals and other civilian buildings, accusing Hamas militants of sheltering inside and blaming them for civilian deaths. Palestinians say nowhere has felt safe since Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Israeli strikes killed at least 18 Palestinians overnight and into Friday, including a strike on a home in the southern city of Khan Younis that killed four members of the same family, according to morgue records at Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. The Associated Press footage of the aftermath of the strike showed people searching for remains. "They are still under the rubble," said Belal Abu Sahloul, a relative of those killed. "Until now we are unable to get them out, even in small pieces." At the hospital, a mother could be seen holding the hand of her daughter, who had been killed in one of the other strikes and placed in a body bag. Nearly 18,000 Palestinian children have been killed since the start of the war, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Israel's military said it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" and that it takes "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm." 3 more killed seeking aid: health officials Nasser Hospital said another three people were killed while heading toward an aid site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli-backed American contractor. A spokesperson for the foundation said there was no violence at its sites overnight and that crowds were "docile." Since the group's operations began in late May, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in shootings by Israeli soldiers while on roads heading to the sites, according to witnesses and health officials. GHF's four sites are all in military-controlled zones, and the Israeli military has said its troops have only fired warning shots to control crowds. There was no comment from the military on the latest deaths. The Gaza war was triggered when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Fifty hostages are still being held, with less than half till believed to be still alive. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 58,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than two million and causing a hunger crisis.
CTV News
3 days ago
- CTV News
Israeli strike hits Gaza church, killing 3 and wounding priest who was close to Pope Francis
Father Gabriel Romanelli, Latin parish priest of Gaza Strip, left, prays during the midnight Christmas Eve mass at Deir Al Latin Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza City, Dec. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip -- An Israeli shell slammed into the compound of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing three people and wounding 10 others, including the parish priest, according to church officials. The late Pope Francis, who died in April, had regularly spoken to the priest about the situation in the war-ravaged territory. The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the 21-month Israel-Hamas war. Israel issued a rare apology and said it was investigating. Pope Leo XIV on Thursday renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in response to the attack. In a telegram of condolences for the victims, Leo expressed 'his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region.' The pope said he was 'deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack,' and expressed his closeness to the wounded priest, Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, and the entire parish. Hundreds of people sheltered at the church The church compound was sheltering both Christians and Muslims, including a number of children with disabilities, according to Fadel Naem, acting director of Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the casualties. The Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem said the parish's 60-year-old janitor and an 84-year-old woman receiving psychosocial support inside a Caritas tent in the church compound were killed in the attack. Parish priest Romanelli was lightly wounded. 'We were struck in the church while all the people there were elders, innocent people and children,' said Shady Abu Dawood, whose mother was wounded by shrapnel to her head. 'We love peace and call for it, and this is a brutal, unjustified action by the Israeli occupation.' The Israeli military said it was investigating. It said it 'makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites, and regrets any damage caused to them.' In a rare move, the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted an apology on social media. 'Israel expresses deep sorrow over the damage to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and over any civilian casualty,' it said. Israel has repeatedly struck schools, shelters, hospitals and other civilian buildings, accusing Hamas militants of sheltering inside and blaming them for civilian deaths. Palestinians say nowhere has felt safe since Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni blamed Israel for the strike on the church. 'The attacks on the civilian population that Israel has been demonstrating for months are unacceptable,' she said. Church compounds have been struck before The church is just a stone's throw from Al-Ahli Hospital, Naem said, noting that the area around both the church and the hospital has been repeatedly struck for over a week. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which also has a church in Gaza that previously sustained damage from Israeli strikes, said the Holy Family Church was sheltering 600 displaced people, including many children, and 54 people with disabilities. It said the building suffered significant damage. Targeting a holy site 'is a blatant affront to human dignity and a grave violation of the sanctity of life and the inviolability of religious sites, which are meant to serve as safe havens during times of war,' the Church said in a statement. Separately, another person was killed and 17 wounded Thursday in a strike against two schools sheltering displaced people in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike. The Gaza Health Ministry said that over the past 24 hours, local hospitals received the bodies of 94 people killed in Israeli strikes and another 367 wounded. Pope Francis spoke almost daily with Gaza church In the last 18 months of his life, Francis would often call the lone Catholic church in the Gaza Strip to see how people huddled inside were coping with a devastating war. Francis had repeatedly criticized Israel's wartime conduct, and last year suggested that allegations of genocide in Gaza -- which Israel has rejected as a 'blood libel' -- should be investigated. The late pope also met with the families of Israeli hostages and called for their release. Only 1,000 Christians live in Gaza, an overwhelmingly Muslim territory, according to the U.S. State Department's international religious freedom report for 2024. Most are Greek Orthodox. The Holy Land's Christian population has dwindled in recent decades as many have emigrated to escape war and conflict or to seek better opportunities abroad. Local Christian leaders have recently denounced attacks by Israeli settlers and Jewish extremists. Ceasefire talks continue There has been little visible progress in months of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas aimed at a new ceasefire and hostage release agreement, after Israel ended an earlier truce in March. According to an Israeli official familiar with the details, Israel is showing 'flexibility' on some of the issues that have challenged negotiators, including Israel's presence in some of the security corridors the military has carved into the territory. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing ongoing negotiations, said Israel has shown some willingness to compromise on the Morag Corridor, which cuts across southern Gaza. However, other issues remain, including the list of Palestinian prisoners to be freed by Israel and commitments to end the war. The official says there are signs of optimism but there won't be a deal immediately. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 people, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Fifty hostages are still being held, less than half of them believed to be alive Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 58,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half of the dead. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its tally. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but is led by medical professionals. The United Nations and other international organizations consider its figures to be the most reliable count of war casualties. ------ By Wafaa Shurafa And Melanie Lidman Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Colleen Barry in Milan, Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed.
