St Patrick’s College, Maynooth Welcomes Pope Leo XIV

Interim President, Rev Dr Michael Shortall, St Patrick's College Maynooth commented:

"The community of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, warmly welcomes the election of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV. We extend our heartfelt congratulations and assure him of our prayers as he begins his ministry as Bishop of Rome.

As the first American-born pope, a member of the Augustinian Order, and a missionary bishop shaped by decades of service in Peru, Pope Leo XIV brings a unique blend of global experience, pastoral compassion, and spiritual depth to the universal Church.

His choice of the name Leo – evoking a tradition of papal leadership rooted in both courage and care – speaks to the challenges and opportunities of our time.

At St Patrick’s, where university education and seminary formation are pursued in close partnership, we share Pope Leo XIV’s commitment to shaping leaders for a Church that listens, serves, and engages the world with the joy of the Gospel.

We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide and sustain him in wisdom and peace. Ad multos annos, Sancte Pater!" "

Rev. Dr Tomás Surlis Rector of St Patrick's National Seminary, Maynooth added:

"On behalf of the Seminary Community, I warmly echo the words of the Interim College President, Rev. Dr Michael Shortall, welcoming the joyful news of the election of Pope Leo XIV as the new Successor of St Peter, Bishop of Rome and Universal Pastor of the Catholic Church. He follows in the footsteps of Pope Francis as Servant of the Servants of God, with a broad experience of leadership in service as an Augustinian Friar, as Director of Formation, and later as Provincial and Prior General, then as Bishop of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, and latterly as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.

During his homily at Mass with the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on the morning after he generously and courageously accepted the Petrine Ministry, Pope Leo reminded all who preach the Gospel that they must "bear witness to our joyful faith in Christ." Pointing to the life and mission of Jesus, the Holy Father called upon all who exercise the ministry of service in the Church to imitate Jesus who is the icon of the Father, in his divinity and in his humanity. "In him, God, in order to make himself close and accessible to men and women, revealed himself to us in the trusting eyes of a child, in the lively mind of a young person and in the mature features of a man (cf. Gaudium et spes, 22), finally appearing to his disciples after the resurrection with his glorious body. He thus showed us a model of human holiness that we can all imitate, together with the promise of an eternal destiny that transcends all our limits and abilities."

We pray that these words of Pope Leo as he sets out on the path of a new ministry in service of the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, together with the pilgrim People of God - whose faith it is now his special care to strengthen and confirm - may inspire us to look first and foremost to Jesus our Brother, our Teacher and our Lord, who shows how to go forth with courage and compassion as missionary disciples "to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied [and to those places where] Jesus is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman." Standing secure on the foundation of our faith in the reality of who Christ is, Pope Leo asks us to be like the first community of Jesus' disciples. That, "we too repeat, with Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). It is essential to do this, first of all, in our personal relationship with the Lord, in our commitment to a daily journey of conversion. Then, to do so as a Church, experiencing together our fidelity to the Lord and bringing the Good News to all (cf. Lumen gentium, 1)." We entrust Pope Leo XIV to the maternal intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church. May she, the first and most perfect disciple of the Lord, continue to guide him and all of us to Christ as the way to the truth that brings life and light to a world that is sorely in need of both."

Rev Dr Michael Shortall, Interim President, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth

Rev. Dr Tomás Surlis Rector, St Patrick's National Seminary, Maynooth

Image from @Vatican Media