OLDS — St. Stephen’s Catholic Church, whose parish includes churches in Didsbury and Sundre, held a thanksgiving mass after Cardinal Robert F. Prevost was elected the 267th pope on May 8.
Prevost replaced Pope Francis who passed away April 21 after lengthy battles with various health issues. He took the name Leo XIV.
Pope Francis served 12 years as the spiritual head of more than one billion Catholics around the world.
Father Nilo Macapinlac, the parish priest of St. Stephen’s, was pleased to see Cardinal Prevost elevated to his new role.
“It's excellent,” Fr. Macapinlac said during an interview with the Albertan.
He likes the fact that not only is Leo XIV the first pope from North America (he was born in the U.S.) but he also spent many years working with the poor in Peru.
Macapinlac indicated that should give him the ability to relate to a huge swath of the world and speak to them in their language.
He believes Leo XIV will carry on and uphold Pope Francis’s moderately liberal approach to the faith and his support for the downtrodden and poor.
“He can perpetuate what for the (former) Pope has been a vision, especially the synodality, the church and respect of human dignity,” he said.
Fr. Macapinlac said that was indicated by the new pope’s decision to take the name Leo.
Leo XIII, who served as pope from 1878 to 1903, was known for his support of better working conditions for workers and social justice.
Macapinlac is also delighted by the fact that the new pope is also an Augustinian, a member of the Catholic Church’s Order of St. Augustine.
“I studied in the University of Saint Augustine, taking my psychology,” he said, adding that Augustinian fathers influenced him.
He said his niece, who became a sister, is also an Augustinian.
Fr. Macapinlac pointed out that before Cardinal Prevost was elected to his new position, Pope Francis had appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, where he had a major role in the appointment of most new bishops.
In doing so, Cardinal Prevost replaced a Canadian, Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec.
“The Pope, Francis, trusted him so much because he held the portfolio of all the bishops throughout the world, including the Bishop of Rome, the Pope,” Fr. Macapinlac said.
