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Ten years ago this week, on 24th May 2015, Pope Francis gave us his great encyclical, Laudato Si'. Its title comes from the prayer of St Francis of Assisi, “The Canticle of the Sun”. Part of this canticle is as follows (this English version can be found on the CAFOD website). 
 
As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical, so we also celebrate the 800th anniversary of St Francis writing this canticle (It was written in 1225).
 
Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord,
all praise is yours, all glory, honour and blessings.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong;
no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name.
 
We praise you, Lord, for all your creatures,
especially for Brother Sun,
who is the day through whom you give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,
of you Most High, he bears your likeness.
 
We praise you, Lord, for Sister Moon and the stars,
in the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.
We praise you, Lord, for Brothers Wind and Air,
fair and stormy, all weather's moods,
by which you cherish all that you have made.
 
We praise you, Lord, for Sister Water,
so useful, humble, precious and pure.
 
We praise you, Lord, for Brother Fire,
through whom you light the night.
He is beautiful, playful, robust, and strong.
 
We praise you, Lord, for Sister Earth,
who sustains us
with her fruits, coloured flowers, and herbs.
 
We praise and bless you, Lord, and give you thanks,
and serve you in all humility.
 
Pope Francis’ inspiration in Rome in 2015 was similar to that of St Francis, looking at Assisi in Umbria in 1225. Both recognised that all creation bears the imprint of its creator. Both saw that the world in which they lived had ceased to stand in awe of this, that many had lost the gift of being able to glimpse God in his creation and to draw strength, grace and understanding. Many had become deaf to God’s call to us to stand in joyful awe and care for God’s creation as part of our Christian vocation.
  
Sadly, instead of joy there can be a vision corrupted by a greed which asks “how can I materially profit from this?”. At its worst there may even be turmoil. This occurs when the world’s resources (land, water, plants, animals, fish, minerals, soils and even human lives) are seen as “resources to be exploited for personal gain”, rather than “God’s creation, of which humankind are called to be wise, loving and caring stewards”.  As individuals, industries, entrepreneurs and even countries strive to exploit creation for gain, tensions between groups arise which bring, in their wake, conflict and wars.
 
But when we focus on the world as God’s creation this also helps us to sow seeds of peace, seeds of renewed wonder and awe, renewed seeds of the life through which creation ‘s beauty brings us into the presence of its creator. As we celebrate these anniversaries, let us now commit ourselves to these tasks.
 
The Laudato Si' encyclical concludes with prayers, the last paragraph of which I invite you to pray:
 
God of love, show us our place in this world
as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth,
for not one of them is forgotten in your sight.
Enlighten those who possess power and money
that they may avoid the sin of indifference,
that they may love the common good, advance the weak,
and care for this world in which we live.
The poor and the earth are crying out.
O Lord, seize us with your power and light,
help us to protect all life,
to prepare for a better future,
for the coming of your Kingdom
of justice, peace, love and beauty.
Praise be to you!
Amen.
 

Fr Rob Taylerson, priest and staff member of St Mary's College, Oscott

Born Robert Francis Prevost, prior to his election as Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. Here is the biography of the 267th Bishop of Rome.
By Vatican News

The first Augustinian Pope, Leo XIV is the second Roman Pontiff - after Pope Francis - from the Americas. Unlike Jorge Mario Bergoglio, however, the 69-year-old Robert Francis Prevost is from the northern part of the continent, though he spent many years as a missionary in Peru before being elected head of the Augustinians for two consecutive terms.

The new Bishop of Rome was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, to Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian descent, and Mildred Martínez, of Spanish descent. He has two brothers, Louis Martín and John Joseph. He spent his childhood and adolescence with his family and studied first at the Minor Seminary of the Augustinian Fathers and then at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where in 1977 he earned a Degree in Mathematics and also studied Philosophy. 

On September 1 of the same year, Prevost entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.) in Saint Louis, in the Province of Our Lady of Good Counsel of Chicago, and made his first profession on September 2, 1978. On August 29, 1981, he made his solemn vows.

The future Pontiff received his theological education at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. At the age of 27, he was sent by his superiors to Rome to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). 

In Rome, he was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982, at the Augustinian College of Saint Monica by Archbishop Jean Jadot, then pro-president of the Secretariat for Non-Christians, which later became the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and then the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue.
Prevost obtained his licentiate in 1984 and the following year, while preparing his doctoral thesis, was sent to the Augustinian mission in Chulucanas, Piura, Peru (1985–1986). In 1987, he defended his doctoral thesis on "The Role of the Local Prior in the Order of Saint Augustine" and was appointed vocation director and missions director of the Augustinian Province of “Mother of Good Counsel” in Olympia Fields, Illinois (USA).

The following year, he joined the mission in Trujillo, also in Peru, as director of the joint formation project for Augustinian candidates from the vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos, and Apurímac. 
Over the course of eleven years, he served as prior of the community (1988–1992), formation director (1988–1998), and instructor for professed members (1992–1998), and in the Archdiocese of Trujillo as judicial vicar (1989–1998) and professor of Canon Law, Patristics, and Moral Theology at the Major Seminary “San Carlos y San Marcelo.” At the same time, he was also entrusted with the pastoral care of Our Lady Mother of the Church, later established as the parish of Saint Rita (1988–1999), in a poor suburb of the city, and was parish administrator of Our Lady of Monserrat from 1992 to 1999.
In 1999, he was elected Provincial Prior of the Augustinian Province of “Mother of Good Counsel” in Chicago, and two and a half years later, the ordinary General Chapter of the Order of Saint Augustine, elected him as Prior General, confirming him in 2007 for a second term.

In October 2013, he returned to his Augustinian Province in Chicago, serving as director of formation at the Saint Augustine Convent, first councilor, and provincial vicar—roles he held until Pope Francis appointed him on November 3, 2014, as Apostolic Administrator of the Peruvian Diocese of Chiclayo, elevating him to the episcopal dignity as Titular Bishop of Sufar. 
He entered the Diocese on November 7, in the presence of Apostolic Nuncio James Patrick Green, who ordained him Bishop just over a month later, on December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the Cathedral of Saint Mary. His episcopal motto is “In Illo uno unum”—words pronounced by Saint Augustine in a sermon on Psalm 127 to explain that “although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one.”
Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru,  from 2015 to 2023On September 26, 2015, he was appointed Bishop of Chiclayo by Pope Francis. In March 2018, he was elected second vice-president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, where he also served as a member of the Economic Council and president of the Commission for Culture and Education.

In 2019, Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy (July 13, 2019), and in 2020, a member of the Congregation for Bishops (November 21). Meanwhile, on April 15, 2020, he was also appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Peruvian Diocese of Callao.
Prefect of the Dicastery for BishopsOn January 30, 2023, the Pope called him to Rome as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, promoting him to the rank of Archbishop. 

Pope Francis created him Cardinal in the Consistory of September 30 that year and  assigned him the Diaconate of Saint Monica. He officially took possession of it on January 28, 2024. 
As head of the Dicastery, he participated in the Pope’s most recent Apostolic Journeys and in both the first and second sessions of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality, held in Rome from October 4 to 29, 2023, and from October 2 to 27, 2024, respectively.

Meanwhile, on October 4, 2023, Pope Francis appointed him as a member of the Dicasteries for Evangelization (Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches), for the Doctrine of the Faith, for the Eastern Churches, for the Clergy, for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, for Culture and Education, for Legislative Texts, and of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State.
Finally, on February 6 of this year, the Argentine Pope promoted him to the Order of Bishops, granting him the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Albano. Three days later, on February 9, he celebrated the Mass presided over by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square for the Jubilee of the Armed Forces, the second major event of the Holy Year of Hope.
During the most recent hospitalization of his predecessor at the “Gemelli” hospital, Prevost presided over the Rosary for Pope Francis’s health in Saint Peter’s Square on March 3.

​

A new Pope has been elected by the 133 Cardinal electors gathered in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.
He is Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, to be known as Pope Leo XIV, the new spiritual leader of the global Catholic Church, and has appeared at the central window of St Peter’s Basilica.
Just after 5pm UK time, Thursday 8 May, white smoke billowed out of the temporary smokestack installed on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, heralding the news that a new Pope had been elected – the cardinals had chosen the 267th Pope.
On behalf of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, Archbishop Bernard Longley has released a welcome message:
"I welcome the wonderful news of the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV.  As he prepared to give us his first blessing as Pope in St Peter’s Square he also gave us a message of joyful encouragement, calling us to be bridge-builders who are the light of Christ in the world.  As the first Pope from the United States of America he also remembered the people of Chiclayo in Peru where he had served as bishop until 2023.
"I have just spent the last few days at Buckfast Abbey with all the Bishops of England and Wales as we prayed for the Cardinals in Conclave and as we waited to hear whom the Holy Spirit would identify as the Successor of Peter.  It will be a great joy to serve the Church’s mission inspired by the guidance of Pope Leo. All the lay faithful, the Religious and clergy of our Archdiocese are praying for our new Holy Father that he may serve the Church for many years and be richly blessed in his apostolate."
Archbishop Bernard will be offering the 12.15pm Mass at St Chad's Cathedral on Friday 9 May (the first Mass after the Conclave) for our new Holy Father.
Let us pray for our new Holy Father. Habemus Papam: We have a Pope!