President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. reacted positively at the election of Pope Leo XIV as the 267th supreme pontiff, joining fellow Filipinos and world leaders Friday in expressing their well wishes for the new Holy Father.
“On behalf of the Philippines, I congratulate Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the United States on his election as the successor of Pope Francis and leader of the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church,” Marcos said in a statement.
Prevost, a soft-spoken polyglot who acquired Peruvian citizenship after spending decades doing missionary work in the Latin American state, is widely expected to build on the legacy of the late Pope Francis.
“As the new pontiff, who took the papal name Leo XIV, ascends the Chair of St. Peter and assumes the mantle of Bishop of Rome, I pray that he will continue to bring the Church closer to the poor and disadvantaged,” Marcos said.
“The Filipino people are also praying for the new pope’s strength and good health as he leads the faithful with grace, wisdom and compassion. May his life and ministry inspire us to persevere in our daily work with our Lord Jesus Christ,” he added.
Prevost was elected Thursday (early Friday in Manila) after 133 cardinals held a two-day conclave at the Sistine Chapel. Two black smokes billowed from the chimney before the white smoke appeared, signaling a successful election.
The 69-year-old religious leader is the first pope to be born and raised in the US. He is also the first Augustinian and the second pontiff after Pope Francis from the Americas, according to the Vatican News.
In a series of Facebook posts on Friday, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Pope Leo XIV had visited the Philippines several times and held masses in different churches, including San Agustin Church in Manila in 2010.
Prevost also led the inauguration of the Augustinian community’s formation house in Manila in 2008.