The pope of peace, continuity, reconciliation

VIRTUAL REALITY

- TONY LOPEZ

"Peace be with you all," Pope Leo XIV greeted, from the Central Loggia or balcony of Rome's St. Peter's Basilica, the 100,000 faithful at St. Peter's Square, to introduce himself as the new leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

In his first speech as the 267th pontiff and as the bishop of Rome, the former Cardinal Robert "Bob" Francis Prevost, 69, greeted the city of Rome and the world's Catholics. Speaking in Italian and Spanish for 10 minutes, the American-born pledged to work for uniting Catholic faithful to Jesus and to the Gospel. Pope Leo said: "God loves us, all of us, evil will not prevail. We are all in the hands of God. Without fear, united, hand in hand with God and among ourselves, we will go forward. We are disciples of Christ, Christ goes before us, and the world needs His light. Humanity needs Him like a bridge to reach God and His love. You help us to build bridges with dialogue and encounter so we can all be one people always in peace."

With those words, Leo XIV begins what could be a long reign during a time of unprecedented turmoil and tension amid rising protectionism, trade shocks, growing militarism and authoritarianism, unbridled conflict and violence (from Armenia to Gaza to Ukraine to Yemen), irreversible global warming and evolving technology that creates machines that are more intelligent than humans. There are today at least 56 ongoing conflicts involving 92 countries, including the world's two greatest powers—the US and China.