16/06/2025
An Open Letter for the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV
Dear Holy Father:
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ!
Please forgive my guts to write you this humble letter in the name of the Diocese of Baguio.
“Habemus Papam! (We have a Pope!) was an exultant announcement that we Catholics in the Philippines woke up to on May 9, 2025. And Your Holiness, who had visited our country a number of times, is the new Pope.
Holy Father, your first message as Pope gives us insights on how you intend to lead the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide in our Pilgrimage of Hope. May I humbly attempt to present a few insights that I read in that first message of Your Holiness.
First is your opening “Peace be with you” greeting which you quoted from the first greeting of the risen Christ and which you reiterated to all the earth. It is the peace of Christ, which as you said, is “a humble, disarming, and preserving peace.” The peace of the risen Christ is not the same as the illusory peace of the world that is flimsy and fleeting. No wonder Christ said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives peace” (John 14:27). It is to this Peace of Christ that we wish you to lead us.
Second is your chosen name Pope Leo XIV. We understand this as the clue to your desire of focusing on the path that Pope Leo XIII focused on during his papacy, specifically on those contained in his encyclical Rerum Novarum. Thus, you also wish to remind us and revive in us observance of the social teachings of the Church, namely: just wages of workers, their safe working conditions, their right to join labor unions, and that human dignity is more important than material productivity.
Third is your devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is very clear when you assured that “Our Blessed Mother Mary always wants to walk with us, be close to us, she always wants to help us with her intercession and her love.” This too has been our filial and consistent experience with Mother Mary Our Lady of the Atonement here in our Diocese. She never fails us. She always helps us to rise from our sinfulness.
Fourth, is your gratitude to your predecessor our beloved Pope Francis and your adherence to the tenets, which he espoused. You thanked him in that speech. As you expressed: “We want to be a synodal church, walking and always seeking peace, charity, and closeness, especially to those who are suffering.” This is also your vision of an inclusive nondiscriminatory church.
Finally, but not the least, you admonish us to be courageous because God loves all of us. You said, “Without fear, united hand in hand with God and among ourselves, we will go forward.” We just have to be “faithful to Jesus Christ without fear” and remain “faithful to the gospel”. “Evil will not prevail”.
Holy Father Pope Leo XIV, the Vicar of Christ, please accompany the Catholic Church and our Diocese in our pilgrimage to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Please lead us. We will follow you.
The Diocese of Baguio promises its unrelenting prayers for your Holiness’ holistic well-being as you represent Jesus to us.
Respectfully yours,
(SGD) RAFAEL T. CRUZ, D.D.
Bishop of Baguio
