The Peace and All Good Column

Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., is the seventh Archbishop of Atlanta. In his award-winning column “Peace and All Good,” he shares homilies and pastoral reflections.

The Peace and All Good Column

Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., is the seventh Archbishop of Atlanta. In his award-winning column “Peace and All Good,” he shares homilies and pastoral reflections.

The Easter season of this Jubilee Year of Hope has been a time filled with deep emotion. In the early hours of Easter Monday, Pope Francis returned to the house of the Father. Tens of thousands of people descended upon St. Peter’s Basilica to pay their respects to this great and humble shepherd.  

At Pope Francis’ funeral Mass, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re stated: “Despite his frailty and suffering towards the end, Pope Francis chose to follow this path of self-giving until the last day of his earthly life. He followed in the footsteps of his Lord, the Good Shepherd, who loved his sheep to the point of giving his life for them. And he did so with strength and serenity, close to his flock, the Church of God, mindful of the words of Jesus quoted by the Apostle Paul: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”  

After Pope Francis was laid to rest in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a novena of Masses was celebrated throughout Rome for the repose of his soul. 

Shortly after the death of Pope Francis, cardinals from all over the world began to arrive in Rome for the Holy Father’s funeral and to participate in meetings to prepare for the conclave that would elect his successor. Pope Francis had appointed the majority of the cardinals especially from the “peripheries.” They gathered in Rome to discuss the needs of the church in today’s world, the challenges and opportunities, as well as the desirable qualities in a future pope. While these meetings were quite formal, what was important was that the cardinals have opportunities not only to listen to one another, but to get to know one another. 

Once the 133 cardinals of voting age entered the Sistine Chapel, all eyes and cameras were fixed on the chimney above the Sistine Chapel awaiting white smoke signaling the election of the pope. A family of seagulls stole the show. One commentator wrote: “When it’s a whole feathered family that comes to prepare us for such a momentous announcement, one can’t help but think of the church’s role in protecting the family and the little ones among us. Surely the new pope will have that mission at heart.”  

After three ballots, white smoke bellowed from the Sistine Chapel chimney signaling that a new pope had been elected. 

A servant of faith and joy 

While one period of waiting had ended, another had begun as we waited for the announcement of the Cardinal Protodeacon: “Annuntio vobis gaudium Habemus Papam” (I announce to you a great joy, we have a pope). The joy and excitement were at fever pitch when Cardinal Dominique Mamberti came to the great loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica announcing that Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost was elected pope taking the name Leo XIV. The first American pope in history!  

Filled with emotion, the pope’s first words were “Peace be with you!”—the same greeting that Christ gave to his disciples after the Resurrection. A native son of Chicago and a friar of the Augustinian Order, Pope Leo gave his blessing Urbi et Orbi. At the Mass inaugurating his pontificate, we saw Pope Leo XVI once again, filled with deep emotion, receive the pallium and the fisherman’s ring.  

Pope Leo XIV greets a child during a meeting with officials and employees of the Roman Curia, Vatican City State and the Diocese of Rome in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican May 24. CNS photo/Vatican Media

In his homily, he said: “I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family.” 

Pope Leo XIV now stands at the helm of the Barque of Peter—his name echoing a rich papal lineage, his voice already resonating with a quiet strength and spiritual depth. In the early days of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has revealed himself to be both a man of profound intellect and simple, accessible holiness. His words have not been rushed or rhetorical, but reflective—inviting the church to a renewed fidelity to the Gospel and a deeper engagement with the world, not on worldly terms, but through the lens of Christ.  

His decision to invoke the name “Leo” is not lost on many of us. It recalls St. Leo the Great, defender of the faith and articulate teacher of Christ’s dual nature—fully human, fully divine. In our present day, where truth is often blurred and the human person sometimes reduced to a category or ideology, Leo XIV is already a voice calling us back to the dignity of the Incarnation, the clarity of truth in charity, and the enduring relevance of the church’s moral and spiritual wisdom. His name also recalls Pope Leo XIII, the first pope to issue an encyclical letter on the dignity of work and the rights of workers. 

Pope Leo XIV has a pastoral heart who has, even in these first gestures and addresses, demonstrated a deep tenderness toward the poor, a clear concern for unity in the church, and a humble openness to dialogue without compromise. There is a quiet courage in him—a man unafraid to name the challenges of secularism and indifference, yet equally unafraid to show mercy and extend the hand of the church to all who seek truth and healing. He reminds us that the bishop is first and foremost a shepherd—called to walk with the faithful, to teach with clarity, and to love without reservation.  

We look to him not as a distant figurehead, but as a father in Christ, drawing the church closer to her Lord. These are early days, and history will be the ultimate judge of his pontificate. But already, there is light in his eyes, light in his words and light in the path he begins to trace for us.  

I invite the faithful in our archdiocese to join me in praying daily for Pope Leo XIV: that the Holy Spirit may strengthen him, that the Blessed Mother may protect him and that his ministry may draw the whole church ever more deeply into the heart of Christ.  

In his own words: “let us move forward, without fear, together, hand in hand with God and with one another.”