Looking Back with Gratitude at Pope Francis and Leo XIII, Looking Forward With Hope to Pope Leo XIV
by Jorge Samaniego, Fausto Franco, and Leslie Bertucci
On May 8, 2025, the world watched as white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, indicating “Habemus papam”: We have a pope! The response was a mixture of shock and joy when it was announced that Cardinal Robert Prevost from Chicago, Illinois, would now be known as Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope in the history of the Catholic Church. He chose as his motto words spoken by St. Augustine during a homily based on Psalm 127, “In Illo uno unum”: “In the One, we are one.”
Pope Leo XIV is a bridge between tradition and renewal. Like his predecessor Pope Francis, he invites us to be renewed by the Spirit and to live the joy of the Gospel. Pope Leo continues to echo the call for a missionary Church, with concern for the poor and an emphasis on social justice. Cardinal Prevost accompanied the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Peru. Pope Francis, as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, oversaw the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Argentina.
In many ways, Pope Leo XIV is continuing Pope Francis’ exhortation to invite the Holy Spirit into every part of our lives, and to expect him to work through us.
On June 1, 2014, when Pope Francis spoke at the 37th National Convocation of the Italian Renewal in the Spirit in Rome, he addressed the world-wide Catholic Charismatic Renewal in these words:
“This is your path: evangelization, spiritual ecumenism, caring for the poor and needy, and welcoming the marginalized. And all of it is based on worship! The foundation of the renewal is worshiping God! . . . I expect you to share with everyone in the Church the grace of baptism in the Holy Spirit.”
Pope Francis’ strong advocacy for unity was evident when, in 2019, he created CHARIS: a single service of communion for Catholic Charismatic Renewal worldwide. The members of CHARIS were charged to reach every continent to be a current of grace for the whole Church.
One tangible sign of this unity was a gathering in Dunwoodie, New York in June 2021 of the John 17 Movement, an organization which promotes the unity of all believers in Christ according to the Gospel of John, chapter 17, where Jesus prays that “All will be one as the Father and I are one.” Those in the gathering watched a recorded message from Pope Francis encouraging their efforts and reminding them of their common bond in the Spirit of Christ.
Pope Leo XIV has embraced these objectives of social justice, mission and unity, picking up where Pope Leo XIII left off with the Industrial Revolution, and responding to the current technological revolution with Artificial Intelligence at the forefront.
Pope Leo XIII, who led the Catholic Church from 1878 to 1903, was instrumental in reviving devotion to the Holy Spirit through his encyclicals, spiritual leadership, and prophetic actions.
His groundbreaking 1897 encyclical Divinum Illud Munus was the first papal document entirely devoted to the Holy Spirit. In it, he emphasized the Spirit’s role in sanctifying the Church, guiding believers, and empowering the mission of evangelization. He encouraged deeper devotion through prayer, teaching that the Holy Spirit is the divine source of grace, light, and strength.
A major influence on Pope Leo XIII’s focus was St. Elena Guerra, an Italian religious sister and founder of the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Spirit. She is known today as “the Apostle of the Holy Spirit,” a title given to her by Pope St. John XXIII. Between 1895 and 1903, she wrote several letters to Pope Leo XIII, asking him to promote devotion to the Holy Spirit. Her appeals deeply moved him and inspired concrete action.
In response, Pope Leo XIII instituted the universal Novena to the Holy Spirit for the nine days preceding Pentecost—still the only novena mandated by the Church. On January 1, 1901, he dedicated the 20th century to the Holy Spirit by invoking the Spirit over the world, a prophetic act that paved the way for future spiritual renewal within the Church.
As part of this dedication he prayed the Veni Creator Spiritus. This same invocation was prayed numerous times during the Duquesne Weekend in February 1967, the event which birthed the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. To this day, we continue to call on the Holy Spirit using these same words:
“Come Holy Ghost, creator blest, and in our hearts take up thy rest.
Come with thy grace and heavenly aid to fill the hearts which thou hast made.”
