The American Robert Francis Prevost, who became the first American pope in history on Thursday under the name of Léon XIV, explained the choice of his name by a commitment on the social question in the face of the challenges of the industrial revolution and artificial intelligence, Saturday May 10, during a meeting with the Cardinals College.
“There are several reasons” to this choice, “Mainly because Pope Leo XIII, with historical encyclical Rerum novarumaddressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution ”said Léon XIV, 69, according to the French translation of his speech transmitted by the Vatican. This encyclical of 1891, which can be translated as “new things” or “innovations”, is the inaugural text of the “social doctrine” of the Catholic Church, articulated on the principles of dignity of the person, solidarity and common good in particular.
“Today the Church offers all its inheritance of social doctrine to respond to another industrial revolution and the developments of artificial intelligence, which pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and work”added the Pope, elected on the second day of the Cardinals Conclave.
“Courageous and confident dialogue with the contemporary world”
Evoking the “Total dedication style in service” From his predecessor, François, he launched to the cardinals, responsible for assisting him in his government: “Let us collect this precious heritage and set off again, animated by the same hope which is born from faith. »»
Léon XIV also recalled a series of“Fundamental aspects” content, according to him, in apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudiumpronounced by François in November 2013, a few months after his election. The pope, who also took the nationality of Peru where he spent more than half of his missionary life, has listed “Courageous and confident dialogue with the contemporary world”,, “Affective attention to the smallest and the left-handed”,, “Missionary conversion” And “Growth in collegiality and synodality” (that is, the involvement of the actors of the Church at all levels). Leon XIV also considered that the Pope “Is a humble servant of God and his brothers, and nothing else”.
“I would like us to renew together, today, our full adhesion to the path that the Universal Church has been following for decades in the wake of the Vatican Council II”who reformed the Catholic Church in the 1960s, he added.
Sunday, Léon XIV will recite the first Sunday prayer of his pontificate, addressing the crowd of the Balcony of the Saint-Pierre Basilica for a Regina Caeli which should attract thousands of tourists and faithful.
Source: Lemonde