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Vatican City – At the most solemn moment of his life, newly elected Bishop of Rome, Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, made a gesture that expresses his devotion to the saintly Bishop of Hippo, Augustine, founder of the order to which he consecrated himself. After accepting the election and informing Cardinal Pietro Parolin of his new pontifical name, he signed the official Act of Acceptance and withdrew to the Room of Tears, the sacristy adjacent to the Sistine Chapel. There, where every new Pope prepares himself interiorly before appearing to the world, he chose not to change his pectoral cross, but to retain the one he had already worn upon entering the Conclave—a gift from the Postulator General of the Order of Saint Augustine, Fr Josef Sciberras O.S.A, for his creation as cardinal in the consistory of 30 September 2023.
This cross is not merely a sentimental keepsake. Within it are housed relics of Saint Augustine, of his mother Saint Monica, and of various other saints and blesseds of the Augustinian Order. It is a cross that bears with it the history of the order, the triumphant Church that now guides and sustains the Successor of Peter. In a well-known address to young people in Paris, Pope Benedict XVI explained the meaning of the cross every bishop wears upon his chest: “It is not an ornament, nor a jewel. It is the precious symbol of our faith, the visible and tangible sign of our bond with Christ.”Each pectoral cross, then, is a seal uniting the bishop to his Lord. It is the visible reminder of the indissoluble bond with Christ and with His Church, but also a sign of the responsibility to carry, day by day, the joys and wounds of the people entrusted to his care.
Leo XIV, by keeping that unique cross, rich in devotion and love, wished to publicly manifest his faithfulness to a journey of faith marked by the Gospel, by friendship, and by communion with God. And he did so with discretion, without resounding words, but with a gesture that speaks more than a thousand speeches. The episcopal motto of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, also resounds today as an urgent appeal addressed to the Church: “In Illo uno unum”, meaning “In the One (Christ) we are one”, an expression drawn from Saint Augustine’s Exposition on Psalm 127. In these few words lies a deep and prophetic vision: the Church’s vocation to rediscover her unity in Christ, the one foundation who does not divide but unites. In a time marked by polarisation, underlying tensions, and still-open wounds, Leo XIV emerges as a pastor called to rebuild, reconcile, and unite. He does so in the evangelical style of meekness, not through imposition, but with the silent power of authentic gestures. He does not seek easy consensus but speaks to the heart of the Church with the disarming force of love. Pope Leo XIV, with that pectoral cross kept close to his heart and the Augustinian words that echo like a compass for the Church, has already set the direction for his pontificate: a Church that walks together, not because it is uniform, but because it looks to the one Lord.
p.E.I.
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