LOCAL PARISHES MARK ARRIVAL OF POPE LEO XIV

Deacon Mark Escobar gives a sermon during a special Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Joseph Catholic Church on May 8th. The mass was called in light of Pope Leo XIV's election.

The bells rang out at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday May 8th, moments after the election of Pope Leo XIV. The parish on Wernett Street, along with Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, called for a Mass of Thanksgiving followed by a Holy Hour, which is the tradition of spending an hour in prayer and meditation. During the Mass, congregants were invited to pray for Pope Leo XIV during the subsequent Holy Hour.

The institution of the papacy dates back nearly 2,000 years to the 1st century AD. In the modern age, the election of Pope Leo XIV marks the first time some Catholics could have learned about the new Holy Father from Facebook Live. Because Father Michael Coronado, administrator of both aforementioned churches, wasted no time expressing the joy of learning about the new Vicar-of-Christ to the followers of St. Joseph via livestream. 

“Hello Del Rio!” Father Coronado begins, church bells wailing in the background. “Habemus papam! We have a pope! We have a new pope here!” the priest proclaimed exuberantly to online viewers.

Connect Del Rio spoke with Father Mike, as the name tag on his clerical shirt reads, to learn more about the thoughts of a local parish leader about the news.

Father Michael Coronado, parish administrator for both St. Joseph and Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Churches, speaks with Connect Del Rio about the news of Pope Leo XIV's election.

“It’s exciting. I know that when we were watching it I gathered all the staff and we were in the hallway, and [we felt] that overwhelming feeling of just chills. You know, you’re waiting, there’s anticipation, and there’s just a joy in the celebration of the church,” he explained.

Pope Leo XIV is the first pontiff in history from the United States of America. When asked about this, Father Coronado says there’s a certain pride that comes from this kind of national representation as the head of a global community of Catholics.

“I think it’s a good thing that we see someone who is American [become Pope]. It brings some pride, but a good, holy pride. Not a bad pride!” Father Mike clarified, laughing heartily. “I think [it’s good] having that person that comes from a culture that [we] understand, you know. Sometimes when it’s a person that’s from way far away, maybe they don’t understand that. And the Catholic Church is so global, it’s so huge. We have people from all over the world.”

From a local perspective of shepherding people, we asked Father Mike what he aims to bring to his ministry in Del Rio. He had one word for us, immediately.

“Joy. I think joy is what is needed in this church. We saw that in Pope Francis. Pope Francis was very joy-filled; the way he did his ministry, the way he smiled, the way he looked. It’s a beautiful sense of bringing people to the church, I think, with that smile.”

He contrasts this idea of the church dealing in joy with the idea of the church being known for its rigid culture. 

“I think in the past we’ve had the fingers,” he says as he wags a finger scoldingly, “you know, you see the priests, and you’re like ‘Ahhh!’ You get scared. But I think there’s a joy in our ministry and I think that’s what a real, true pastor is […] And I think we want to follow someone who is joy-filled, who has Christ within him. And we see the Popes of the past and we see the joy that they bring, but we look forward to this and we continue moving forward and upward,” he continues, raising his finger and looking to the sky. “And we walk together in hope and in faith.”

During the Mass of Thanksgiving, a sermon by Deacon Mark Escobar explored a biblical story and likened it to the Pope’s shepherding of the 'People of God'. In the story, Phillip the Apostle is led by the Holy Spirit to minister to an Ethiopian man who was traveling. The man didn’t understand the scripture about Jesus he was reading, but when Phillip explained that the scripture was about the messiah, the man was moved and wished to be baptized immediately. Deacon Escobar recounted the passage from the Book of Acts for its similarity to how the Pope guides the Roman Catholic Church and its followers to an enlightened spiritual existence through the spreading of the gospel.

Ending his sermon with a call to action, Deacon Escobar said, “Vamos a tener en oración a este nuevo Papa”, or “We keep this new Pope in our prayers.”