The Revd Timothy Meadows, Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church, has offered Pope Leo XIV greetings and prayers from the URC after his election as Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church.
“On behalf of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church, I extend our warmest greetings to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, and assure His Holiness, along with our Catholic sisters and brothers, of our continued prayers and support at this significant juncture in the life of the Church world-wide.
“The United Reformed Church joins with His Holiness in the call to peace and in the sacred endeavour to build bridges of compassion and justice.”
Born in Chicago as Robert Prevost, Pope Leo became the 267th pontiff on Thursday 8 May and the first North American to be elected. He called for peace and paid tribute to the late Pope Francis in his first remarks from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, Rome, in front of tens of thousands of people.
In March, a group of pilgrims from the United Reformed Church–Roman Catholic Dialogue Group travelled to Rome to share their newly developed resource booklet with several key institutions.
The free publication, Journeying Together: A Resource Pack for Local Churches, is available to download and is a practical guide designed to help communities foster deeper understanding and unity through shared exploration and conversation.
Download the Roman Catholic / United Reformed Church Dialogue Group’s Journeying Together: a resource pack for local churches.
Eternal One,
whose limitless love reaches all humanity,
bless Pope Leo in his new role,
grant him wisdom and patience as he takes up the heavy burden of office,
strengthen him in his ministry of encouragement and oversight,
that we may all be Jesus’ disciples in a world desperately needing Your light,
and signs of hope that evil will not have the last word.
Amen.
Image: Mazur/cbcew.org.uk/Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.