Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States, appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, May 8, 2025.
On Friday, May 9, 2025, at least 1,000 young learners aged between five and 14 years of age, together with their teachers, a few parents and several visitors, prayed and danced with joy at morning Mass in Sacred Heart Baba Dogo Church, Nairobi.
Fr Robert Karanja Ireri, the main celebrant and also Regional Vicar of the Order of St Augustine in Kenya, intoned the sung Mass with the Gregorian Chant and the school choir and congregation responded in similar tenor. In the country, the Augustinian religious institute has 40 finally professed members. The 1,500 capacity Church was full.
Why the celebration?
In his dialogical preaching, the priest gave reasons for the festive mode. Pope Leo XIV, elected in the early hours of the night just ended, is a friend of their Church and school community.
Fr Ireri said that last December, American Cardinal Robert Prevost prayed in that very Church. The priest proceeded to state that the new Pope had celebrated Mass there several times as a bishop. Indeed, Fr Ireri revealed that as the head of the Order of St Augustine, Fr Prevost had helped the community raise funds to build the house of God: Sacred Heart Church, Baba Dogo.
The presiding priest recounted the various projects and programmes initiated and supported by the American prelate. These included the Baba Dogo School which transformed from an informal feeding centre to a fully-fledged learning institution (2004), the Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre (VCT) (2005) and the Nursery Section (2011).
As the Prior General or Leader of the Order of St Augustine world-wide before he became bishop and cardinal, Fr Prevost authorised and supported the founding of several parishes in Kenya, including Ishiara (Diocese of Embu) and St Monica Nyamasaria (Archdiocese of Kisumu). Working in the same capacity, he has visited 47 countries where his 2,800-strong religious institute serves.
Pope Leo XIV conducts Mass in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, May 9, 2025.
The unfolding account of the new Pope’s achievements, personality and zeal as narrated by Fr Ireri received growing applause. There was an atmosphere of pride and special joy because the congregation felt connected with Pope Leo XIV. He was not a distant foreigner but a close friend of the Baba Dogo community. They can read his name on several plaques on the walls of their buildings.
The presiding priest spoke of the new Pope as a familiar friend. Both have known each other for 20 years of regular communication, official and personal. Fr Ireri has hosted the prelate, driven him to various parishes in the country and around the Nairobi National Park during his visit as Cardinal Prevost last December.
Both Pope and priest share the same baptismal name: Robert. For years, Fr Ireri and his religious fraternity have referred to the American prelate as “Big Bob”. The new Pope has always jokingly addressed the Kenyan Regional Vicar as “Little Bob”. We have to wait and see if this arrangement of appellation will continue.
In his first address immediately after election as Pontiff, Pope Leo XIV fondly paid tribute to the memory of the recently departed Pope Francis. This was a clear indication that the Pontiff intends to continue the legacy of his predecessor, that includes building bridges, breaking down walls of division, working to include the marginalised, helping migrants, caring for the environment and promoting integral human development.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, May 8, 2025.
The choice of the name Leo bears symbolic significance. The last pontiff to have selected that name, Pope Leo XIII, wrote the pivotal encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891). The letter literary translates: “Of New Things” or “Of Revolutionary Change” in reference to the condition of the working class in the face of the Industrial Revolution. Is Leo XIV giving the signal that he intends face the challenges of the 21st Century in a radically new, innovative and, therefore, courageous manner?
How will he address matters of women’s rights, homosexual and lesbian relations, euthanasia or assisted dying that he will be pressed to address by powerful forces, especially from his own backyard of North America and Western Europe?
African Bishops unambiguously rejected Pope Francis programme permitting the blessing of same sex couples. Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo Besungu, President of the SECAM, the Pan African body of all Catholic Bishops in the continent, was categorical that they cannot accept the blessing of same sex couples. If Pope Leo XIV intends to build on the programme of his predecessor and mentor, how will he handle this one?
Fr Ireri indicated that the new Pope enjoyed his four visits to Kenya. Asked if he plans to invite his friend, the Augustinian Regional Vicar smiled and pleaded for the Pope: “Let’s give him time to settle down”.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States.
After the Mass, several members of the congregation asked Fr. Ireri as the Regional Vicar to make sure that their friend Pope Leo XIV is briefed soon about the Mombasa Martyrs killed in 1631 and the progress of the Cause of the Servant of God Maurice Michael Cardinal Otunga. When will he be elevated to the rank of Venerable?
Fr Njoroge is University Chaplain (Catholic) at JKUAT
