Archbishop of Port-of-Spain Jason Gordon has hailed the appointment of Pope Leo XIV as not just continuity but a new tone of quiet strength and missionary fidelity in the Catholic Church.
Yesterday, the Chicago, US-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops was elected the first pope from the United States in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.
In his first words as Pope Francis’ successor, real name Robert Prevost, uttered from the loggia of St Peter’s Basilica, said, “Peace be with you,” and emphasised a message of peace, dialogue and missionary evangelisation. The 69-year-old wore the traditional red cape of the papacy—a cape that Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013. He spoke to the crowd in Italian and Spanish, but not English.
In a statement yesterday following the conclusion of the conclave in Rome, Gordon, who is president of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, said, “Leo XIV is not a pope of spectacle but rather one of pastoral patience and principled discernment. His agenda—rooted in Augustinian spirituality, episcopal integrity, and a deep listening Church—calls us to become more authentically who we are: a Church of the people, close to the soil, steeped in song, and born from struggle.”
Gordon said his experience forming local clergy and leaders in the Peruvian Andes resonates with the region’s own call to “raise up a new generation of Caribbean leaders—bishops, priests, religious, and laypeople who are formed in our context, speak our languages, and understand the cries and hopes of our people.”
The head of the local Roman Catholic Church said the Caribbean must not wait for answers from Rome, but instead, the new pontiff “invites us to build local structures of synodality and holiness—to become a Church that walks forward, not one that waits passively.”
Gordon said the vision of the new Pope is clear: the Church must be led by servants who live with the people, not by princes who live above them.
He went further in saying Pope Leo XIV inherits the synodal vision of Pope Francis, yet he introduces a missionary realism and discernment-focused leadership.
“His voice may be quieter, but it is no less prophetic. For us, this means continuing to invest in pastoral councils, diocesan synods, and regional collaboration—not as occasional events but as our enduring way of being Church. In a region often buffeted by storms—literal and metaphorical—Leo XIV’s leadership provides a calm, steadying presence. He does not promise immediate answers, but offers us space to breathe, discern, and act.”