Bishop Dennis Walsh receives the gifts from Jim Tiedje and Lisa Tibbetts during the Liturgy of the Eucharist at the Mass for Pope Leo XIV May 27 in Sacred Heart Cathedral-Davenport.
By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger
Catholics celebrated Mass for Pope Leo XIV in English, Spanish and Vietnamese at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport on May 27, underscoring the universal and communal nature of the Church in a world mired in divisiveness.
Bishop Dennis Walsh presided at Mass, with five priests concelebrating, two deacons assisting and Deacon Frank Agnoli serving as master of ceremonies. The worship aid provided the Scripture readings, responsorial psalm and other parts of the Mass in each of the three languages, along with an explanation of Pope Leo’s coat of arms. His coat of arms is a “clear reflection of his Augustinian roots and the values he seeks to promote during his pontificate, particularly unity and communion with the Church.”
Media outlets and others have sought to cast the first U.S.-born pope “into some ideological framework,” Bishop Walsh said in his homily. They ask, “Is he conservative or progressive? Is he a Democrat or a Republican?” Politics and ideology cause many people to “become stuck, their hearts become rigid and hardened,” he said.
The conclave that took place following the death of Pope Francis began with politics but quickly moved to consensus, the bishop said, citing comments made by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S., and the American cardinals.
Bishop Walsh spoke of comparisons made between the actual conclave and the fiction conclave depicted in the recent movie, “Conclave.” The cinematic version depicted the assembly to choose a pope as a process filled with intrigue, manipulation, the discrediting of one another and backbiting. It overlooked the role of the Holy Spirit in guiding the cardinals, the bishop believes. He quoted Cardinal Robert McElroy, bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., who said, the cardinals “were just looking for the soul at this point in time willing to be a witness to Christ.”
Reflecting on what he has read, watched and listened to, Bishop Walsh believes there is a “real sense that the conclave truly felt the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that led them to a real consensus.”
Their discernment points to an important lesson, the bishop said. “We can choose to live in the realm of division and disunity, or we can open ourselves immediately to the promptings of the Holy Spirit that desires to lead us to live in peace and unity and dwell in the mystery.”
In celebrating Pope Leo as the successor of St. Peter — whom Jesus described as the rock upon which “I will build my Church” (Matt. 16:13-19) — Bishop Walsh asked the gathering, “What is the lesson Peter teaches us?”
Bishop Dennis Walsh leads the Eucharistic Prayer during a Mass for Pope Leo XIV May 27 at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport.
“I love Peter,” the bishop said. “Peter is always so human. We can all relate to Peter. I imagine he was a bit rough around the edges. Peter can be impetuous.” While he betrayed the Lord, he also repented. “He expresses his love for the Lord three times. Is it any wonder that the Lord could choose anyone other than Peter to be that missionary disciple to lead the Church?”
Just as Jesus chose Peter, “in all his humanity, to lead the Church,” so “he continues to provide a shepherd for us in our time. We can be just as confident that the Lord himself chose Leo XIV to shepherd his Church today,” Bishop Walsh said.
The new pope’s citizenship continues to generate media attention, which misses the point, the bishop believes. He describes Pope Leo as “a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ, who desires to lead all to the heart of Christ, who is a great lover of the poor and marginalized and a lover of the Church of Jesus Christ, a servant who has given his whole life in service to the Church, and who happens to be American.”
Pope Leo’s “citizenship is not the most important part of his witness. The same can be said of us as well,” said Bishop Walsh. “I believe the best days of the Church are ahead of us, if we just allow ourselves to be open to the Holy Spirit, allow ourselves to move from politics and division to dwell in the mystery.”
His prayer is “that we can proclaim like Peter, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,’ and in obedience, we can follow his successor, Leo, to make the same Christ known and loved in the world.”
“I’m excited about this new pope,” Jack Arth of St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Davenport said after Mass. “He’s humble, he’s a gift.”
Hang Dinh of Sacred Heart Cathedral said it was important for her to attend the Mass. “I wanted to pray for the pope, for his new ministry, for his health and for him to guide the Church with the grace of the Holy Spirit.”
