Cardinal Omella says that Pope Leo XIV will surprise

The Spanish cardinal Juan José Omella, archbishop of Barcelona (Spain) and one of the 133 voters who has participated in the conclave of which the new Pope Leo XIV came out on Thursday, said that, as Francisco or as John XXIII, “he will surprise” and that his choice shows that “the church is on its way”.

“What we ask of the Pope is the faithfulness to the Gospel, which then translates into the times we are living because the Gospel must be lived in the times that touches us,” the purple to the journalists present at the Spanish College of Rome this Friday, May 9.

After putting as an example to John XXIII, who convened the Second Vatican Council in the 60s and sought to “update, renew and respond to the current time,” he said that “the Church is in society” and, therefore, “cannot remain in the last century.” And he also added that as Francisco will also respond “to all social concern, offering hope, peace, solidarity, attention to the little ones.”

“All popes have done it after the council (Vatican II), get that movement to adapt the gospel and make it alive at the current time,” he said.

For Cardinal Omella, which is the first time he participates in a conclave, Leo XIV “will follow that wake that the previous ones are marking, such as evangelizing today’s man.”

A prepared man, who knows how to be with simple people

In this way, Omella drew a profile of the new Pope as a “shepherd” who worries “what happens to today’s human being.” The purple Spanish also highlighted his “simplicity”, his ability to “express himself normally” and said he is “very spiritually prepared” and that “he knows how to be with simple people.”

“It is very sensitive to all the problem that is presented today in the world. The issue of hunger, the issue of poverty, the issue of respect for justice, of human values, the issue of men, of women, of the poorest. All this he carries in his heart, as it cannot be otherwise, because he is a good shepherd, very sensitive,” he said.

Cardinal Omella said he knew Robert Prevost well. He pointed out that they spoke frequently on the phone before the conclave and that he even took the love from a group of Peruvians who visited Barcelona recently.

In fact, he revealed that his relationship quickly strengthened himself as soon as Premost knew that Omella had been in the episcopal ordination of his predecessor in the Diocese of Chiclayo, the bishop of Zaragoza (Spain) Jesús Moliné, predecessor in this Peruvian city of Pope Leo XIV.

“He is a close man, prepared and has that worldwide look because when he is an order (that of San Agustín) he has had to visit the Augustinians and know the world,” said Cardinal Omella who has also worked with him in the Dicaster for the bishops. Before being chosen Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost was a prefect of that Vatican organism.

The Purpurado Spanish also confirmed that the name he has chosen a burden with the inheritance of Leo XIII, who wrote the encyclical Reality with which the social doctrine of the Church took off.

“The intuition I have is that he, in some way, gives an answer to all the social concern we have, which means hope, which means peace, which means solidarity, which means attention to the poorest and the little ones,” he explained.

“It is also a call to the rulers, to those who have responsibility in the world, in the economy, to be supportive, righteous and seek peace and concord among all of us,” he said.

On the possibility that he can continue in the so -called Cardinals Council – the organ created by Francisco to help him in the Universal Church, of which he himself was part of express desire of the Argentine Pontiff, revealed that the cardinals have asked León XIV to have “with a collegial team” of this type.

“He is a man very sensitive to that work in collaboration, in coordination with the brothers who govern the different churches of the world,” he said.

In fact, one of the main appointments of his agenda this Saturday will be a meeting with the entire Cardinal College, including non -voters. “It’s a very nice gesture. Let’s share, we want us to tell him what we need,” he said.

Relationship with Trump

Cardinal Omella was asked about the relationship that Leo XIV will have with the United States government and settled the issue ensuring that “there will be a more fluid relationship.”

“Since the two speak English perfectly, hopefully that helps, the relationship with Trump is fluid and serves to make someone bridge for peace in the world,” he said.

Thus he reiterated that it is a figure that will make “bridge for peace in the world.” “The Church has often served mediation, directly through the Pope or with his delegates,” he said.

“It is a symbol that the Church is synodal, evangelical, a church that wants to evangelize today’s world, who wants to give a response of hope to men and women.”