We rejoice with the global Church in celebrating the election of Pope Leo XIV! We trust in the movement of the Holy Spirit, and are grateful to have this good man as our Holy Father.
We invite you to join us in praying for Pope Leo XIV. Below the prayer, you can find the message from Superior General Arturo Sosa, SJ, to the international Society of Jesus.
Prayer
God of all people,
In trust and gratitude, we turn to your Holy Spirit. We know your Spirit has been active during this time of conclave, guiding the prayerful discernment that has brought your Church to this important moment. Now, as Pope Leo XIV assumes the Petrine Ministry, we pray that your Spirit draw ever closer to our new Holy Father, illuminating his path so that he may faithfully see and respond to the needs of your people.
We pray that Pope Leo XIV be strengthened in his ministry. May he continue building bridges that connect us to one another. May he be an example of faith, hope and love. We pray that you give him joy in his work and a renewed fervor for your Gospel message. May he never lose sight of Christ who walks before us and among us — particularly in the most vulnerable, the forgotten and the outcast.
Christ Jesus, bless Pope Leo XIV — and bless us, your holy people, as together we strive to be your Body in our wounded world.
Amen.
Message from Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ
TO THE WHOLE SOCIETY
Dear Brothers,
With all the people of God and so many people of good will, we share the joy of the election of Pope Leo XIV, Bishop of Rome and Pastor of the Universal Church. In this Easter season, we have contemplated the scene where Jesus, the crucified-risen one, confirms the call to the Apostle Peter to follow Him, to take care of his brothers and sisters gathered in the Church, sent to spread and be witnesses of the Good News throughout the world. The source of the mission entrusted to the Apostle Peter and his successors is the unconditional love of the Father. The Son, Jesus, gave His life to fulfill the Father’s redemptive will and entrusted to the community of His disciples the continuation of His mission in history. He sent the Holy Spirit as inspirer and counselor of His apostles and ministers responsible for carrying it out. The Petrine ministry thus plays a key role in animating the service of the Church to the redemptive mission of the Lord Jesus in all the complex situations of human history.
For us, it is an opportunity to renew one of the characteristic dimensions of the charism received through Saint Ignatius and the early fathers, founders of the Society of Jesus, namely, the willingness to receive from the Roman Pontiff, Vicar of Christ on earth, the mission with which we can offer the best service to the universal Church. As my predecessors did with previous Popes, I have communicated to the Holy Father Leo XIV the availability of the Society of Jesus to offer our cooperation wherever and however his universal vision considers we can give the best of what we are today.
I have also assured Pope Leo XIV of the prayers of the whole body and of each member of the Society of Jesus. Let us take this moment to renew our thinking with the Church, finding, in creative fidelity to our charism, the best way we can today serve the mission of the Lord Jesus.
We therefore wholeheartedly commend Pope Leo XIV to Mary, Mother of the Church, Our Lady, who accepted the call of the Holy Spirit, trusting that nothing is impossible for God, accompanying her son Jesus during His earthly life and, as a privileged witness of the resurrection, accompanying the first steps of the early Church.
Arturo Sosa, S.J.
Superior General
Rome, 8 May 2025
