Interview with Mother Yvonne Reungoat on Pope Leo XIV

Rome (Italy). Sister Yvonne Reungoat, Mother General Emerita of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and member of the Dicastery for the Bishops of the Holy See, interviewed, talks about her direct acquaintance with Pope Leo XIV, former Prefect of the Dicastery, after his election on 8 May 2025.

As a member of the Dicastery for Bishops, she knew well Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. What characteristics of his personality are most evident?

I am happy to have met directly the then Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost in the Dicastery for Bishops. When I joined this Dicastery as a member in 2022, Cardinal Prevost was already participating as a member of the same Dicastery, while he was Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru. In 2023, Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Dicastery, a responsibility he assumed and exercised with great ecclesial passion. We met every 15 days for the ordinary congregations he presided over.

I see the new Pope Leo XIV as gifted with a beautiful personality. He is very deep spiritually; he is serene, simple, with great ability to listen, good at relations. He is really attentive, present in the full sense of the word to every person he meets and in the meetings he presides over. His gaze is piercing and a gentle smile illuminates his face. He has a good capacity for discernment and knows how to read situations in the light of faith. He is also profoundly human, a man of balance, open but clear in his fidelity to the Doctrine of the Church. I can say that he has a great love for the Church and a remarkable sense of serene responsibility.

How did you feel when his name was announced as Pope?

First of all, I prayed a lot for the Cardinals and I waited for that moment with mixed feelings. My sorrow at the death of Pope Francis did not leave me and I felt at the same time, the responsibility to pray for the election of the new Pope with the confidence that the Holy Spirit would give the Cardinal voters the necessary light for the choice of the new successor of Peter.

When the name of the new Pope was announced, I felt  immense joy and  great emotion that I could not contain, an indescribable experience! I felt myself in front of the great mystery of God who continually guides His Church. I lived a moment of faith and thanksgiving to the Lord. At the same time, I was having trouble realizing that the newly elected Pope was Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, whom I knew closely. I was very impressed by the running of the crowd with great joy towards St Peter’s Square, an authentic joy!

Leo XIV chose as his motto, “In illo uno unum” (“In him who is one, we are one”). How do you interpret this message in relation to the synodal journey of the Church initiated by Pope Francis? How could this call to unity  guide the Church towards greater communion and participation of all the faithful?

Pope Leo XIV, in his first discourse on the evening of 8 May, immediately stressed unity, walking together. “Hand in hand with God and among ourselves, let us go forward! We want to be a synodal Church, a Church that walks, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that tries to be close especially to those who suffer.” He also stressed the importance of being a bridge, of promoting dialogue. Pope Leo XIV is a man of listening and discernment, of communion.

He participated in the two synodal assemblies that took place in Rome in 2023-2024, and expressed his desire to continue the path opened by the Second Vatican Council and Pope Francis. The synodal Church builds communion, because she is missionary and called to bear witness to God’s love for His people. The experience lived in the Synod, of building unity as harmony of differences and not as uniformity, opens a significant path for the whole Church.

Pope Leo XIV will guide her along this line and I have great hope that with him the missionary synodal Church will enter into this journey of renewal of relations and will be a light in the heart of the world. But he won’t do it alone! All the baptized are called to feel co-responsible with him for the mission of the Church, each and every one in his/her specific vocation.

What challenges and opportunities do you see for the Church under the leadership of Leo XIV, especially in promoting the role of women? Do you Believe that the new Pope will continue on the path of openness and inclusion initiated by his predecessor?

Pope Leo XIV will situate himself in the line of continuity with Pope Francis and also of newness, starting from his own personality and experience and the challenges that will present themselves to the Church from the world in constant transformation. I was struck by his insistence on peace.

Regarding the promotion of the role of women in the Church, I think that Pope Leo XIV will continue the opening made by Pope Francis. The experience of positive collaboration lived, with the presence of three women in the Dicastery for Bishops of which he was Prefect, will certainly guide him in giving women the responsibilities they can assume in the Church. In fact, he has always shown great confidence in us women and included us as full members of the Dicastery. I also wish Pope Leo XIV to be attentive to young people, making them protagonists in the life of the Church!

Considering his international background and missionary experience, how do you believe these characteristics will influence his pontificate and the rapport with the different global ecclesial realities?

I think that his international background, his missionary and pastoral experience among the poor, his having been Prior General of his Congregation, and Bishop in Peru, have formed in him a personality that is very open to diverse cultures and socio-political, economic and ecclesial realities. This openness will help him to understand situations at different levels, and to discern the answers to be given to today’s great challenges.

Also, his experience as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, and as a member of several other Dicasteries, will help him in his relations with all the Bishops of the world, and to discern the appointment of new Bishops. I believe that he will promote and support the exchange of gifts between the local Churches, as was hoped for in the Final Document of the Synod.

The consecrated life will find in him, because he is a religious, a support and a guide to give more and more its specific contribution on the journey of ecclesial synodality.

I am convinced that he will continue to animate the Church in the wake of Pope Francis, going to meet people who feel excluded, marginalized, who profess other faiths, who aspire to be new presences in building a world of peace, justice, and fraternity.

Thank you Lord for the new Pastor you have given to the universal Church in the person of Pope Leo XIV!