This is old news, but I just have to comment! With the release of white smoke from the Sistine Chapel, the world was given a new leader of the Catholic Church: Pope Leo XIV. Elected by a two-thirds majority of cardinals in the sacred setting of the Conclave, this moment wasn\u2019t just historical — it was deeply spiritual for over 1.4 billion Catholics around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those from other Christian traditions, the significance of this process may seem unfamiliar, but here\u2019s what I know: Pope Leo XIV now stands as the most visible Christian leader in the world. His words and witness will impact not only Catholics, but people of all backgrounds and beliefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
History tells us the influence of a faithful pope can be world changing. Just think of Pope St. John Paul II, whose voice helped crumble the walls of communism and uphold human dignity around the globe. We live in such a time again — where truth is often blurred, and biblical values are under siege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s why I honor the Catholic Church\u2019s unwavering stance on the sanctity of life, biblical marriage, and the defense of the vulnerable. In a world where many have traded conviction for compromise, their boldness brings courage to the rest of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Jude exhorted: \u201cContend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints\u201d (Jude 1:3). This calling wasn\u2019t just for his day. It\u2019s for us, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve had the honor of loving and serving with my Catholic friends in many women\u2019s groups, organizations, retreats, study groups, and worshipping Jesus with them. I\u2019ve found warmth, depth, reverence — and most importantly, a shared love for Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s what we have in common — we stand united on the essentials — Christ crucified, risen, and returning; the authority of Scripture; the mission to love and serve a hurting world. As Jesus prayed in John 17:21: \u201cThat they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So today, I pray for Pope Leo XIV — that he will lead with boldness, humility, and truth. And I recommit to my own calling, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to build bridges, speak truth, and love like Jesus.
Will you join me?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is old news, but I just have to comment! With the release of white smoke from the Sistine Chapel, the world was given a new leader of the Catholic Church: Pope Leo XIV. Elected by a two-thirds majority of cardinals in the sacred setting of the Conclave, this moment wasn\u2019t just historical — it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1210,4227,31808,1769,1392,2517,40,5376,31810,31798,4789,31807,31809],"class_list":["post-22105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blog","tag-catholic-church","tag-catholics","tag-christian","tag-facebook","tag-faithful","tag-inspiration","tag-leader","tag-pope-john-paul-ii","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-sistine-chapel","tag-white-smoke","tag-world-changing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22105"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22108,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22105\/revisions\/22108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}