Leaders of religious orders show joy, prayerful support for Pope Leo XIV

By Sean Gallagher

On May 8, the 12 Discalced Carmelite sisters of St. Joseph Monastery in Terre Haute were living their ordinary cloistered life, a day suffused with prayer in the midst of daily chores like gardening, cooking, sewing and other work on the grounds of their community.

But that day turned into something extraordinary when the community’s superior, Carmelite Mother Mary Joseph Nguyen, learned that white smoke was coming forth from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, a sign that the 133 cardinal electors had chosen a new pope. (See more news about our new pope)

Mother Mary Joseph quickly sent out a message to the sisters through the monastery’s phone system.

“When the sisters heard the call, they abandoned whatever we were doing, including the sisters who just came in from the garden, quickly gathered in front the TV in the recreation room, turned on Vatican media live stream and waited excitedly for the curtain to open to see who the new pope would be,” she explained. “When the curtain opened and we heard the official announcement that the new pope was Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, an American, Chicago born, an Augustinian, we were very happy and delighted.”

Meals in the Carmelite monastery are often eaten in silence, but not on May 8.

“We spent the rest of that day in a celebratory spirit with talking meals, thanking God for the gift of a new successor to Peter to lead his Church,” Mother Mary Joseph said.

Leaders of other religious communities shared with The Criterion their reaction to the election of Pope Leo XIV, their prayerful support for him and their hopes for his ministry in leading the Church.

‘A global vision of the Church’

Providence Sister Dawn Tomaszewski, general superior of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in St. Mary-of-the-Woods west of Terre Haute, had the bells in the sisters’ church rung after they learned about Pope Leo’s election.

“He has so many gifts to offer the Church and the world,” she said. “He has a missionary’s heart—a deep passion and desire to share one’s faith and beliefs with others, to serve others no matter who they are or their circumstances.

“I feel like he embodies the message Pope Francis proclaimed throughout his time as pope: ‘Everyone is loved by God; everyone belongs.’ ”

Sister Dawn was also excited because, like the new pope, she is both a native of Chicago and a graduate of Catholic Theological Union (CTU) in Chicago.

“I feel like I know his roots, the kind of solid Midwestern values and work ethic that shaped him,” she said. “I have a sense of his theology. I don’t think you can leave CTU without a global vision of the Church or an understanding of the generous nature of our God.”

She added as a humorous aside, “I’ve already forgiven him for being a White Sox fan and not a Cubs fan.”

Franciscan Sister Maureen Irvin, congregational minister of the Franciscan sisters in Oldenburg, appreciated Pope Leo’s broad experience as a missionary priest and bishop in Peru.

“I think we need to realize that ours is a universal Church that is growing in the global south,” she said. “Pope Francis was wise to appoint so many bishops from all parts of the world. I think Pope Leo will continue that practice.”

An ‘Augustinian moment’

Conventual Franciscan Father Martin Day, provincial of his order’s Province of Our Lady of Consolation, based in Mount St. Francis in the New Albany Deanery, reflected on having a second consecutive pope come from a religious order.

Pope Francis had been a Jesuit priest before becoming a bishop. Pope Leo had been an Augustinian missionary priest in Peru before being elected to serve as the order’s worldwide superior. In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him to serve as a bishop in Peru.

Father Martin called the papacy of Pope Francis “the Franciscan moment” for the Church when so much of the spirituality of the family of religious communities founded by St. Francis of Assisi came to the fore in the life of the Church.

“As an Augustinian friar, Pope Leo will surely have occasion to access the works and witness of St. Augustine, and maybe this will be an ‘Augustinian moment,’ ” Father Marin said. “I wish our brothers in the Augustinian Order all the best, if that is the case.”

Father Martin said that the new pope will have the support of Conventual Franciscans around the world.

“One of the particularities of the Conventual branch of the Franciscan Order has always been to be especially available to the intentions and directives of the pope, so I expect that to continue,” he said. “The impression I have is that Pope Leo fully intends to continue the work of Pope Francis, which will make that commitment easier.”

Benedictine Archabbot Kurt Stasiak, the leader of Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, described the election of a second consecutive pope who had previously been a member of a religious order as “a nice trend.”

“We feel that a good part of his formation in the Church came through his formation as an Augustinian,” he said. “And, while it’s different from Benedictines, there’s a certain kinship there. A lot of their values are the same.”

Archabbot Kurt also spoke about how the election of the new pope was observed in the daily praying of the Liturgy of the Hours by the monks of his community.

“I made a ‘ritual announcement’ of the election results at Vespers, and we concluded by singing the Te Deum,” said Archabbot Kurt, referring to the ancient hymn of praise sung of special occasions in the Church. “After the ‘Angelus,’ our novices rang all six bells for five minutes—as we do the evening before and the morning of ordinations to the priesthood and solemn vows.”

‘Journeying together toward Christ’

Benedictine Sister Julie Sewell, prioress of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove, commented on the first message that Pope Leo gave when he came out on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after being elected bishop of Rome, noting that he “mentioned the need for dialogue, carrying on the call to continue journeying together toward Christ as his motto is ‘In one Christ, we are one.’

“He would have us open our hearts and minds to all our brothers and sisters in dialogue with one another,” Sister Julie said.

Prayerful dialogue is an important part of the synodality in the Church that Pope Francis promoted in the later part of his pontificate.

Sister Dawn saw Pope Leo embrace this priority when, in his remarks from the balcony, he spoke of “a Church that moves forward, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close above all to those who are suffering.”

“I’m not sure I could outline a better agenda for all of us as the people of God,” she said.

As Pope Leo moves forward in promoting synodality in the Church and other priorities that he will discern and speak about to the Church and the world, he will have the continual prayerful support of religious communities across the archdiocese, including the Carmelite sisters in Terre Haute.

“Our vocation is to pray for the Church and the world,” Mother Mary Joseph said. “We thank God for the gift of Pope Leo to the Church and thank Pope Leo for the courage to embrace the huge responsibility of being the successor of Peter.

“We hold the pope and his intentions in our daily Mass, communal and personal prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to give him wisdom and strength and all the graces he needs to care for the flock entrusted to him.” †