Pope Leo XIV said Saturday he intended to follow his predecessor's path as pontiff, praising Francis's "complete dedication to service" and explaining his name choice reflected a commitment to social causes, according to the Vatican.
Addressing a meeting of cardinals two days after being elected the 267th pope, Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost said a pontiff was "a humble servant of God and of his brothers and sisters, and nothing more than this".
Describing himself as Saint Peter's "unworthy Successor" in one of his first addresses as pontiff, Leo praised Francis's dedication "to (the) sober simplicity of life". "Let us take up this precious legacy and continue on the journey, inspired by the same hope that is born of faith," he said, according to a transcript of his speech to the College of Cardinals published by the Vatican.
The first leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics to come from the United States, the new pope also said he chose to be called Leo XIV as a homage to Leo XIII, a 19th-century pontiff who defended workers' rights. "I chose to take the name Leo XIV" because his late namesake "addressed the social question in the context of the first great Industrial Revolution".
