- The Name of Leo: Continuity and His First Words
When Robert Prevost stepped onto the loggia of Saint Peter’s Basilica on May 8, 2025, the announcement of his chosen name startled and delighted the faithful. Leo the Fourteenth. By selecting Leo, he placed himself in continuity with some of the Church’s most towering figures. Papal names are never random. They are catechetical in themselves, telling the faithful what a new pope values and what he hopes to embody. ¹ In this case, the choice signals strength in doctrine, clarity in teaching, and pastoral courage in times of upheaval.
- The Significance of Choosing “Leo”
Names in the papacy are markers of identity. Some popes honor their immediate predecessor to show continuity. Others reach back centuries to align with a model of holiness or reform. By taking the name Leo, Prevost was identifying with men who had guided the Church through crisis and renewal. The name “Leo” itself means “lion,” evoking courage, guardianship, and nobility. ² This is not the stance of novelty or experiment. It is a conscious rooting in tradition.
- The Legacy of Past Leos
Leo the Great (440–461). Pope Saint Leo I is remembered as one of the great Doctors of the Church. His Tome was read at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, offering definitive teaching on Christ: one divine Person in two natures, fully God and fully man. ³ In a time of confusion and heresy, his clarity brought unity and doctrinal security. Beyond theology, Leo also embodied pastoral courage. In 452, he met Attila the Hun at the gates of Rome and persuaded him to withdraw. ⁴ His papacy shines as a model of doctrinal fidelity joined with pastoral bravery.
Leo XIII (1878–1903). Nearly 1,400 years later, another Leo guided the Church into the modern age. Known as the “Rosary Pope”, Leo XIII issued eleven encyclicals on the Rosary. In Supremi Apostolatus Officio (1883), he declared the Rosary “a most powerful means of warding off the evils which beset our age,” urging all the faithful to pray it during October.⁵ In Magnae Dei Matris (1892), he called the Rosary “a most excellent form of prayer and meditation” and insisted that the faithful would find in Mary “the suitable example of every virtue.”⁶ His social encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891) laid the foundation for Catholic social teaching, while Aeterni Patris (1879) revived Thomistic philosophy as the sure path for harmonizing faith and reason.⁷ Leo XIII embodied intellectual rigor and pastoral concern, showing that the Church can meet modern challenges without abandoning timeless truth.
By recalling both Leos, we see why the name carries weight. It invokes defenders of orthodoxy and interpreters of modern crises—two tasks now entrusted to Leo XIV.
- Leo XIV’s First Words
The significance of the name came alive in his first address as pope. On the evening of May 8, 2025, Leo XIV’s very first words were centered on Christ:
“Peace be with you all. Dear brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the risen Christ, the Good Shepherd, who has given his life for God’s flock.” ⁸
He continued with an appeal that was both humble and bold:
“We want to say to the world, with humility and joy: Look to Christ! Come closer to him! Welcome his word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to his offer of love and become his one family: in the one Christ, we are one.” ⁹
And in a phrase that captured the heart of his first message, he declared:
“God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail.” ¹⁰
These opening words set a tone of peace, unity, and confidence in Christ’s victory over evil. They echo the clarity of Leo the Great and the pastoral concern of Leo XIII. They point not to the pope himself, but to Christ as the true shepherd and teacher.
Reflection
As friends on this journey, we can hear in Leo XIV’s choice of name and his first words a message of reassurance. He does not see himself as the originator of truth but as its humble servant, walking in the footsteps of Leos before him. His papacy is still young. The jury is still out on how it will be judged. Yet already, in name and word, he points us beyond himself, to Christ who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Francis was a revolutionary pope. Many ruptures, many things brought in. Revolutionaries, always year 0, chose never been used name. Year 0 begin a revolution. Read many of his documents, self-referential. Documents willing to quote, all post Vatican II.
Importance of the name. John P{aul I, he’s really trying to bring together prior popes, not a new beginning, a consolidation. Died doon
John Paul ii also showed progression to continue.
Leo XIV did not begin Francis II or John Paul II, chose an ancient name. Already seeing, and will see, greater connection to Thomastic & Augustinian roots, don’t see it now, wise pastor does not do anything the first year. Let dust settle.
Church on a circle, a revolving element to church in truth. Let church keep going, keep the momentum, and adjust the course. Not a full stop
Notes
- Vatican News. “Biography of Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost.” Vatican News, May 8, 2025.
- J.N.D. Kelly. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
- Council of Chalcedon. Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum, 451.
- Prosper of Aquitaine. Chronicle. Translated in The Fathers of the Church. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1963.
- Leo XIII. Supremi Apostolatus Officio. Encyclical, September 1, 1883. Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
- Leo XIII. Magnae Dei Matris. Encyclical, September 8, 1892. Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
- Leo XIII. Rerum Novarum. Encyclical, May 15, 1891; Aeterni Patris. Encyclical, August 4, 1879.
- Vatican News. “Pope Leo XIV: ‘Peace be with you all.’ First Address to the Faithful.” Vatican News, May 8, 2025.
- Vatican News. “Pope Leo XIV: ‘Look to Christ … in the one Christ, we are one.’” Vatican News, May 8, 2025.
- Catholic News Agency. “Pope Leo XIV’s First Words to the World: ‘God loves us … evil will not prevail.’” CNA, May 9, 2025.