For Toronto’s Cardinal Francis Leo, he came to Rome “like an orphan,” and as he and the other 132 cardinal lectors prepare to leave for their home dioceses, they do so with a new head of the family.

The Church and its 1.4 billion adherents has mourned, and continues to mourn, the passing of Pope Francis, but now looks forward with Pope Leo XIV as its new guiding hand, said Leo.

“We came here like an orphan,” Toronto’s Archbishop told a May 9 news conference from Rome, and “now we have a new Holy Father, a new shepherd for the Church, a new father in our family which we call the Church to lead us, to guide us, to strengthen us in the faith and to help us journey in our faith.”

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Leo was one of three Canadian cardinal electors to take part in the news conference streamed live from the Pontifical Canadian College in Rome. He was joined by Toronto’s Archbishop emeritus Cardinal Thomas Collins and Quebec City’s Cardinal Gérald Lacroix, Primate of Canada. The three were among the four Canadian cardinals, including Cardinal Michael Czerny, who chose American Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, to succeed Pope Francis.

Toronto’s Archbishop expects the new Pope to be a bridge builder within the Church — “that’s what a pope does” — as he takes on his new role as the spiritual father of the Church. He saw this in the Pope’s first words uttered from the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square as he was introduced May 8 to the world as Pope.

“Peace.”

To Leo, “This is beautiful.” It sets the tone for his papacy, the Cardinal said, as peace is the gift of the Risen Christ to this world.

The three cardinals shared their thoughts on being among the select few fortunate enough to carry out this honour, and their joy was easy to see as the Archdiocese of Toronto’s communications manager Neil MacCarthy introduced each to the gathered media. 

“It’s awesome,” said Collins, who took part in his second conclave to elect a pope.

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“It’s a profoundly moving experience.”

Lacroix concurred, saying he was “very, very touched, moved” by his first conclave. He shared how it was “an experience of fraternity” among the cardinal electors who despite their vast differences, drawn from all corners of the Earth, were able to come together so quickly to choose a successor to the late Pope Francis.

“We elected a Pope in less than 24 hours,” Lacroix said of the fourth ballot vote on the conclave’s second day. “That says something. That’s a big statement of how we were able to listen together to the will of God, to the Holy Spirit.”

For him personally, it was a lot of prayer and asking God for the courage to make the right decision.

He also shared the beauty of experiencing the whole process from the inside.

“If you listen to certain things, either in movies or in the media, from people on the outside, they can’t grasp the beauty of how we experienced it on the inside,” said Lacroix. “It’s like looking into the church through the stained-glass windows from the outside, it’s all dark. But if you are inside and you’ve got light coming through, it’s beautiful. That’s how I would describe what the conclave was for me.”

Toronto’s Leo, also in his first conclave just five months after being elevated to the College of Cardinals, said he was “amazed” by the beauty of the process “to elect the successor of St. Peter and in the apostolic succession that reaches back to Jesus Christ Himself,” and representing people who here “in 2025, religion, faith, Christ is still something very important that gives meaning to their lives and hope to their day.”

In the end, he said he’s confident “that the Lord did arrive and help us to make that decision.”

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As for thoughts on the new pontiff, Collins said he will have his differences from Francis and all other popes, but what he will share is that like all the others, he is “united in Christ” and will follow His path in treating all with the dignity they deserve.

“The greatest hidden mystery of the Catholic Church is the social teaching,” Collins said. “This is central to who we are.”