Congressman Smith released the following statement on the election of Pope Leo XIV
“My wife Marie and I offer our heartfelt prayers in support of and gratitude for His Holiness Pope Leo XIV—the first American Pope and the 267th successor of St. Peter.
Catholics—and people of good will around the world—look to the papacy for moral leadership and clarity and we are encouraged by Pope Leo’s call for peace, his example of faith and humility and his focus on charity and upholding the dignity of the vulnerable and the poor.
Pope Leo, as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, said in a homily earlier this year: ‘God’s mercy calls us to protect every life, especially those society overlooks—the child yet to be born and the elderly nearing their journey’s end—because each bears Christ’s face.’
By underscoring the protection of the right to life as first among the many humanitarian responsibilities of the Church, the Pope strongly reinforces our collective responsibility to care for unborn children and their mothers.
We will continue to pray for him and his inspiring vision of a Church ‘that walks together, a Church that always seeks peace, always seeks charity, always seeks to be close especially to those who suffer’.”
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