Gerry Turcotte

If readers of Pope Leo the XIV’s first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi te (‘I have loved you’) detect an echo of the late Pope Francis in the document they would not be wrong. The work, signed on the October 4 by Pope Leo, was originally written by Pope Francis before he died and was subsequently revised and approved by our new pontiff.

I have been a fan of the CBC TV show Still Standing since I first stumbled on it several years ago while channel surfing. I lingered, admittedly, because I recognized the host, Jonny Harris, from Murdoch Mysteries, and even though I planned to move on I found that I couldn’t turn away.

There’s a well-known joke about a reckless taxi driver and an overzealous priest arriving at the gates of Heaven. They are greeted by St. Peter who grants the driver immediate access, while only a conditional acceptance of the priest.

It was an odd experience of growing up with a father who didn’t speak English and a mother who didn’t speak French. When things got heated, when my parents argued, I had a strange power: I could misinterpret diplomatically.

Although French is officially my first language it’s fair to say that with a father who couldn’t speak English and a mother who couldn’t speak French, I grew up functionally bilingual.

Both times that I’ve been struck by a careless driver someone came forward to say, “I’ve got your back. I saw what happened.” I felt such gratitude that someone I didn’t know wanted to help. The parable of the Good Samaritan came to mind.

Such is the somewhat charmed life of an academic that we have the opportunity to join a platform party and watch the excitement—sometimes the outright terror—of our students as they reach a critical milestone that is shared with family, friends and the community at large.

Habemus Papam! We have a new pope. Can there be any phrase more joyful to the Catholic ear? And now all eyes will be on him, watching and waiting to see the direction this new successor to Peter will take.

Pope Francis’ time as leader of the Catholic church was striking for his humility, compassion, commitment to the poor, and leadership on international concerns. His encyclicals advocated for care and generosity, for our fellow citizens, for our environment, and for the common good. He travelled to some of the most troubled spaces on the planet, including a ground-breaking visit to Canada to issue a long-awaited papal apology to Indigenous peoples on Canadian soil.

Jesus led by example, and in his early ministry delivered miracles to assure and embrace his followers. He also reminded us we needed to trust in His authenticity, and to model His goodness of heart to celebrate the dignity of our fellow citizens.