I will raise up for myself a faithful priest,
who shall do according to my heart and mind;
I will establish a lasting house for him
and he shall walk before me all his days.
—Entrance Antiphon for the Election of a Pope
The white smoke announcing the election of Pope Leo XIV has long dissipated, but excitement still fills the air for our newest pope now taking his place not only as the 267th Supreme Pontiff but also as the next “Lion” in a long and distinguished line of Leos. Who is he? Where has he come from? Where will he take the Church? Will he help the Chicago Bears finally secure a winning quarterback? Only God himself knows the fullest answers to these questions. But for those of us with less than divine hindsight or foreknowledge, we can rest assured on the rock of our first and oldest pope, the Apostle Peter, that we are in God’s hands.
Indeed, “old and new” remains a theme today as it has for centuries. How should Pope Leo be seen relative to Pope Peter? What are we to make of the latest pope to take the name Leo in light of Pope Leo the Great (440-461) or the Leo who left behind a legacy of writings on the changes the turn of the century witnessed—Leo XIII (1878-1903)? And—especially significant to liturgy lovers—how does Leo XIV view the new order of Mass (Novus Ordo) and the ancient liturgical tradition from which it grew?
Many observers have already commented on some of the traditional elements surrounding our new Pope: the red mozzetta at his announcement; “P.P.”—the abbreviation of “Pastor Pastorum”—before his signature; the use of the papal farula, or pastoral staff with a cross; his residence in the traditional papal apartment; or his singing of the Mass or even the Regina Caeli during his Sunday addresses. As Catholics know, signs and symbols communicate matters of faith and truth.
But Pope Leo XIV’s words, too, bespeak a coming together of the old and the new in these first days of his papacy. While not saying a great deal yet about the sacred liturgy, his words to the Eastern Catholic Churches on the occasion of their meeting during the Jubilee Year warrant reflection. “The Church needs you,” Pope Leo said. “The contribution that the Christian East can offer us today is immense! We have great need to recover the sense of mystery that remains alive in your liturgies, liturgies that engage the human person in his or her entirety, that sing of the beauty of salvation and evoke a sense of wonder at how God’s majesty embraces our human frailty! It is likewise important to rediscover, especially in the Christian West, a sense of the primacy of God, the importance of mystagogy and the values so typical of Eastern spirituality: constant intercession, penance, fasting, and weeping for one’s own sins and for those of all humanity! It is vital, then, that you preserve your traditions without attenuating them” (Address on May 14, 2025; emphases added). This last line, in fact, echoes that of another papal predecessor, Pope John XXIII, when he opened the Second Vatican Council: “the Twenty-first Ecumenical Council…wishes to transmit the doctrine, pure and integral, without any attenuation or distortion….”
May the saints and the successors of St. Peter bless today’s new Holy Father, so that he may lead each of us in the years to come to participate in the life of the eternal city!
Although on a much smaller scale—but one that we in the Adoremus family will find important—I am grateful to announce that after serving as editor for Adoremus Bulletin for the last 10 years, our 30-year-old Bulletin will have a new editor. Dr. Michael Brummond is a husband and father, instructor of theology at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in Hales Corners, WI, a regular Adoremus contributor—and a man with the mind of the Church. He will carry on the duties of editor of Adoremus Bulletin with the same deep appreciation of tradition, with fidelity to the Church and her liturgical books, and in service to priests and faithful today.
The liturgical apostolate begun 30 years ago by Helen Hull Hitchcock, Father Jerry Pokorsky, and Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio has taken many forms and worked in many ways: reporting on United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (then National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference) meetings, publishing the Adoremus Hymnal, working for worthy translations of liturgical texts, publishing Magisterial documents when the World Wide Web was just coming online, and—most especially—publishing the Adoremus Bulletin. The present issue is the first of Adoremus’s 31st year in service, and the Bulletin will continue to anchor all our current and future endeavors.
For my part, I will remain an integral part of Adoremus. In relinquishing my editor’s chair to Dr. Brummond, I will be free to give more time and attention to Adoremus’s other new initiatives—both those already on the books and those in development. As many know, God has blessed Adoremus with many new ways to impact the liturgical life of the Church. In addition to the regular means now at everyone’s disposal over the past 30 years—websites, social media, podcasts—Adoremus currently offers live, online courses in conjunction with the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation; is collaborating with the Josephinum Diaconate Institute, Columbus, OH, to provide ongoing liturgical formation for permanent deacons; has supported Christendom College in Front Royal, VA, in founding its Institute for Liturgical Formation; and has spawned numerous published books on topics from Romano Guardini to silence in the Mass to ceremonial actions of the clergy at Mass. And there is more on the horizon: we are beginning works on resources for parish-level liturgical formation, developing a program to implement the Second Edition of the Liturgy of the Hours, and looking at ways of expanding book publishing. With Michael Brummond joining Adoremus Bulletin’s editorial and production team, we are excited and grateful to expand our current apostolate.
So, for the papacy and for Adoremus, there’s something old, something new at this time. May our collective service to the Church and her liturgy make that Wedding Feast of the Lamb, which the Mass and sacraments reveal today, shine out more radiantly in our midst.
