Midwest Mary

Body, mind, and spirit. That’s what many of us believe we humans are composed of, all three of which need to be balanced for optimum health. When one is off, the other two are affected.

We can seek doctors to help us with the body and mind, and a spiritual director to help us with the spiritual side. As a member of the Catholic Church, our ultimate spiritual director is the Pope, who is currently Pope Leo XIV.

The title “pope” is derived from the Latin pappas, meaning father. The pope is the father, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church, which has nearly 1.5 billion members. According to AI, that’s 17.8% of the world’s population, with the highest concentrations in the Americas, followed by Africa and Asia.

Catholics believe that the pope is uniquely connected to God because Jesus appointed St. Peter and all those who follow him as leaders of the Church. Jesus said, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it,” (Matthew 16:18).

The current standard for papal nomination is to be a bishop chosen by a two-thirds majority of the cardinals in a secret ballot and not be older than 80 years of age.

Pope Leo XIV was elected the 267th Bishop of Rome and Pope in May 2025. He was born Robert Francis Prevost on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois. He is a member of the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.).

His education includes a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics from Villanova University (1977), a Master of Divinity degree from Catholic Theological Union (1982), and a Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome (1987). 

Pope Leo has extensive leadership experience, including serving as Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru from 2015 to 2023, the second vice-president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, and 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, and in 2020, a member of the Congregation for Bishops, as well as Apostolic Administrator of the Peruvian Diocese of Callao.

On January 30, 2023, the then Bishop Prevost became Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, which promoted him to the rank of Archbishop. In 2023, he was named Cardinal, and of course, elected Pope of the Catholic Church in 2025 by his peers.

Pope Leo’s episcopal motto is “In Illo uno unum, ”translated as, “although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one,” which is taken from Psalm 127.

Since the atomic bombings of Japan in August 1945, the Church has reflected on the risk of humanity’s self-destruction. Following in the path of preceding popes, Pope Leo has consistently called for prayers for peace and for nations to choose the path of dialogue and diplomacy, rather than violence. He often refers to Scriptural teachings on this need for peace among all God’s people.

Pope Leo stated on June 14, 2025, “The situation in Iran and Israel has deteriorated gravely, and in such a delicate moment, I would like to renew strongly an appeal to responsibility and reason. The commitment to creating a safer world, free from the nuclear threat, should be pursued through respectful encounter and sincere dialogue, to build a lasting peace, based on justice, fraternity and the common good. No one should ever threaten the existence of another.”

He has regularly continued with this message. At the end of the 2026 World Day of Peace, he said, “The idea of the deterrent power of military might, especially nuclear deterrence, is based on the irrationality of relations between nations, built not on law, justice and trust, but on fear and domination by force.”

For more information on the Catholic position on war and peace and Pope Leo XIV, see the Vatican News and posts on Saint Mary’s Press.

*Photo: St Peter’s Square as taken from the Dome, 2006

©Mary K. Doyle, 2026