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Pope Leo XIV will probably continue the legacy of his predecessor in defense of environmental preservation and in service to the poor and suffering populations of the world, a friend said.
Pope Leo XIV’s priorities include climate and service to the poor. Photo: Reproduction
“Leo XIV will continue to encourage us to be aware and do what we can to make this a better world for everyone, which means taking care of the things we have and that we have been given-have been given to us and to share them,” said Reverend Art Purcaro, assistant vice president of Mission and Ministry of Villanova University.
Purcaro and Robert Prevost, now Pope, served together for the first time on an Augustinian mission in northern Peru, serving a community of poor subsistence farmers. The pair worked together between Rome and Peru for over two decades.
They talked before Prevost entered the conclave. Prevost told Purcaro that he had heard his name being mentioned as a possible candidate for the papacy, but “he was not looking for anything,” saying he would accept “what God wants.”
“He is deeply spiritual and has his faith as a solid basis, not an ambitious person. He is reserved,” Purcarus said.
The priest believes that the Pope Lion will live with humility, as did Pope Francis, rejecting the luxury and pomp that sometimes accompanies the position.
“When we see him dressed as it is now, we can think of clergy, hierarchy, distance, privilege – which I do not see as part of its nature,” Purcarus said. “It would be natural to Pope Lion, just as it was for Bob Prevost, to live with humility, simplicity, genuinely and authentically.”
