Cardinal Blázquez about Leo XIV: It is not a cruel or aggressive lion, but tender

The Spanish cardinal Ricardo Blázquez, Archbishop Emeritus of Valladolid and former president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, said that the new Pope does not “is a cruel or aggressive lion, but tender.”

The first reaction of Purpurado Abulense, which despite not having participated in the conclave for having exceeded 80 years, was present in the previous general congregations that marked the robot portrait from which Cardinal Robert Prevost came out was of “joy” and of “giving thanks to the Lord” by Pope Leo XIV.

Cardinal Blázquez was able to personally move those feelings to Leo XIV in the Sistine Chapel, where he was received by the new Pontiff with a “cordial attention” just before leaving to the central balcon Regina Coeli Like Pope.

In that brief greeting, he was able to express his desire to serve him in everything he needs: “I had the opportunity to greet him with great affection, to also thank him for the ministry that began and his previous career. Also of making my disposal available to the extent that I can do at 83, which will not be much, but always at his disposal (…) As a collaborator I want to be a faithful and loyal collaborator”.

A missionary pope with San Agustín on the horizon

From Rome, the purple Spanish shared its first impressions and wanted to highlight the eminently missionary vital tour of Leo XIV.

“The Pope who ends up being chosen has a long journey in so many senses. First of geographical. He was born in Chicago and He developed a good part of his ministry in Peru as a missionary”, Recalled.

He also valued the “formative”, “historical” and “charismatic” baggage of his Augustinian profile. “San Agustín’s imprint is clear,” he said, after remembering that Leo XIV cited the Holy of Hippo in his first public greeting.

“He cited a few words from St. Augustine that are very eloquent (…) the words were approximately the following: ‘With you I am a Christian, for you I am a bishop’. That is, the fundamental name, the one that expresses the dignity of all the disciples of the Lord, is precisely the Christian being,” he said.

A PAPA OF CONTINUITY

On the mission of the papacy, the Spanish cardinal said that the papal ministry, as the successor of Peter, “is a species as an ethical focus on humanity.”

“It echoes the fundamental moral causes (…) How are we not going to defend the personal dignity of every person, from the beginning to the end?” He emphasized.

Commenting on the first homily of Leo XIV as Pope in front of the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, in which he urged to evangelize those who have lost the meaning of life, the purple shared a reflection on the faith and freedom of the believer: “I believe that faith is at the same time a gift of God and a free response of man. We do not conquer the faith, we receive it.

“We announce the Gospel, which is also a call to faith, to hope, to peace among us, to walk through life with an eye on the ultimate horizon of our life, which is precisely we expect the peace of heaven.”

Referring to the name chosen by the new Pope, Cardinal Blázquez highlighted the symbolism that evokes in ecclesial memory: “León XIV is the name that the new Pope has chosen. Some have said that it is a Leone Ténerothat is, tender. Not a cruel or aggressive lion, but tender, is a man who has a story and, logically, this story already broadcasts a message. ”

Similarly, he drew a parallel with his homonymous predecessor and pointed out that Leo XIII “began a very important social magisterium, with the encyclical Rerum Novarum.”

He wrote it later “of the industrial revolution and the suffering of so many people, workers, who had suffered the consequences that this revolution behaved for them,” he explained after affirming that this was how the social issue entered the heart of the Church.