(LifeSiteNews) — It was a weird experience for me in Rome at the conclave. I’d love to tell you that I had an awesome spiritual experience at the election of a new Holy Father and was bathed in the holiness that exuded from St. Peter’s. But the reality was very different.
The crowds outside the basilica were unreal. As soon as word spread that the white smoke had been seen, people started to flood the area that was already crowded. Soon it became impossible to move. Moreover, due to the mobile phone jamming in place for the conclave, most of us near the basilica were unable to use our devices for communications. I headed to a nearby restaurant from which I could upload a reaction to the announcement as soon as it came. At the time I wondered why I felt so little in the way of excitement, at least spiritually speaking.
When the announcement came, it was rather devastating. We had information from a week prior that Robert Prevost was a likely “moderate” candidate, and so we did quite a bit of digging. The most devastating thing we knew about him was he was sitting atop the office responsible for bishops in the Vatican when Pope Francis removed Bishop Strickland, and he was the one responsible for moving the heretical Cardinal Robert McElroy to Washington, D.C., despite his gross abuse cover-up.
Here was my initial reaction a few seconds after the announcement:
The info we had could be seen as pretty devastating. So what changed overnight? How did we go from dejected but still knowing that God is in charge, to being willing to be hopeful? To the LifeSite editorial statement on Pope Leo which states: “While we may carry concerns shaped by recent experiences, we begin this new pontificate with prayer, with reverence for the office, and with hope in the grace that comes with it”?
What helped me to get past that “nightmare” feeling that I voiced in my first reaction to the news? It was the very target of the worst item on the record of Cardinal Prevost – now Pope Leo XIV. That target was Bishop Joseph Strickland, removed from the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, for his fidelity to Jesus and His truth with the complicity of Cardinal Prevost, who at the time headed up the Dicastery of Bishops (the Vatican office responsible for such decisions).
READ: Toward a more excellent way: speaking the truth in charity
When I spoke to Bishop about how he could come to embrace Prevost as pope and be open and even happy to do so, he told me that it was due to his relationship with Jesus. “When you are a real disciple of Jesus Christ, when you know Him, He says you’re going to have to carry your cross after Him. He says, they have rejected me, they will reject you too – that is what we buy into.” He added that he is able to continue since “it is grace helping me, by the grace of God it has never been a source of bitterness or anger.” In fact, you should watch this so you can see it for yourself:
Did you see how Bishop got emotional as he spoke of the grace of Christ? He is so obviously in love with Jesus!
It’s that kind of example, that kind of humility, that kind of willingness to suffer is what motivated me to take an approach that is faithful, hopeful, and anchored in charity. If Bishop Strickland, the very man Pope Leo helped remove, can respond with forgiveness and trust in God’s plan, then so can we. Now is the time for the wounded faithful to rise in faith — to pray, to speak truth, and to hope in grace.
You see, there are over a billion people praying for this one man – Pope Leo XIV. There is every chance, if he is open to grace, that he will be the pope God wants him to be.
RELATED: Cardinal Burke launches prayer campaign for Pope Leo XIV
LifeSite will of course continue to report and analyze with integrity and clarity, especially when truth is obscured or doctrine is undermined. But we will not begin from a place of suspicion or opposition. We will strive to avoid sensationalism, cultivating instead a tone that is sober, respectful, and grounded in the truths of the Gospel.
Our mission is not merely to expose what is wrong, but to build up what is right: to promote fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church, to proclaim the beauty of Catholic teaching, and to witness to the hope that does not disappoint.
In this spirit, we pledge to speak the truth boldly, but also to speak it in love (Ephesians 4:15), in the service of the Church we love, and in fidelity to Christ her Head. And that spirit is reflected perfectly in the prayer that Bishop Strickland issued for Pope Leo, which is a perfect way to end this reflection.
Prayer for Pope Leo XIV by Bishop Joseph Strickland
O Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest,
Thou hast permitted Pope Leo XIV to ascend the Chair of Peter at a time of great confusion and suffering for Thy flock.
We place him into Thy Sacred Heart, praying that he may be conformed ever more deeply to Thee, governed not by the spirit of the age, but by the Spirit of Truth.
Grant him the grace to teach with clarity, to govern with justice and humility, and to sanctify Thy people in truth.
Let him be a rock for the faithful, a light for those in darkness, and a defender of the holy Catholic Faith handed down from the Apostles.
If he falters, give us the grace to remain firm.
If he suffers, grant us the courage to suffer with him.
And if he walks in fidelity, may we support him with prayer, sacrifice, and love.
Preserve us, O Lord, from both despair and delusion.
Keep us alert, rooted in Scripture and Tradition, yet full of trust in Thy providence.
Teach us to hope not in men, but in Thee – for Thou, O Christ, reigneth even in Thy Passion,
And Thou wilt never forsake Thy Church.
May Mary, Thy Mother and ours, intercede for Pope Leo XIV, that he may be a true shepherd after Thy Heart.
May all Thy saints defend him from error and guide him in holiness.
In Thee alone, O Christ, is our peace.
To Thee alone do we look,
In this hour and in every age.
Amen.
For LifeSiteNews, this is John-Henry Westen. God bless you.
