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Pope Leo XIV Urges Argentine Businessman as Model of Holiness
Confirmed
In Short: In a Mass celebrated in Córdoba, Pope Leo XIV praised Shaw, noting that his life demonstrated the possibility of being both a businessman and a saint, and that economic efficiency and fidelity to the Gospel are not mutually exclusive.
In a Mass celebrated in Córdoba, Pope Leo XIV praised Shaw, noting that his life demonstrated the possibility of being both a businessman and a saint, and that economic efficiency and fidelity to the Gospel are not mutually exclusive.
During his homily before about 650,000 worshippers, according to Vatican figures, the pontiff highlighted the city's religious heritage, honored Argentine saints, and urged believers to embrace the call to holiness and build a nation rooted in fraternity and solidarity.
Father Máximo Jurvinovic, communications director for the Argentine bishops' conference, announced that a total of 25,077 volunteers registered to help at the various stops on the Pope's visit, in Buenos Aires, Claypole, Córdoba, and Luján.
What this adds
Pope Leo XIV has said he chose his name partly because Pope Leo XIII confronted the social upheavals of the Industrial Revolution with the 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” which defended workers’ dignity and rights while addressing the responsibilities of employers and the state.
During his homily before about 650,000 worshippers, according to Vatican figures, the pontiff highlighted the city's religious heritage, honored Argentine saints, and urged believers to embrace the call to holiness and build a nation rooted in fraternity and solidarity.
“This calling is always missionary: we must make known to others the beauty that we have come to know in Christ.” Overflowing crowds welcomed Pope Leo to Córdoba, an industrial city of 1.6 million residents some 430 miles northwest of Buenos Aires.
“In the business world, the life of Venerable Enrique Shaw, a Catholic entrepreneur who underwent a conversion after discovering the beauty of the Gospel as expressed in the Church’s Social Doctrine, speaks to us with particular force,” Pope Leo said.
Background
In April, Pope Leo XIV announced that Bishop James Golka of Colorado Springs would replace retiring Archbishop Samuel Aquila in Denver starting in March.
What's confirmed
- Argentina (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV met privately Nov. 9 with five people abused by clergy or Church institutions in Argentina, listening individually to their experiences during an encounter that lasted more than an hour, the Holy See Press Office said.
- Catholic faithful hold an Argentine flag bearing images of the late Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV as they wait for Pope Leo XIV to arrive to celebrate Mass at Parque Paris Londres in Paysandu, Uruguay, Saturday, Nov.
- “Dear brothers and sisters, these saints and blesseds have already fulfilled their mission on earth. Today, it is our turn to follow the radiant example of holiness they have left with us,” Pope Leo said.
What's still developing
- Pope Leo has said he chose his name partly because Pope Leo XIII confronted the social upheavals of the Industrial Revolution with the 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum.” The document, considered foundational to modern Catholic social teaching, defended workers’ dignity and rights while addressing the responsibilities of employers and the state.
- “This calling is always missionary: we must make known to others the beauty that we have come to know in Christ.” Overflowing crowds welcomed Pope Leo to Cordóba, an industrial city of 1.6 million residents some 430 miles northwest of Buenos Aires.
- “Religions safeguard human dignity,” the Pope said to a gathering of faith leaders at the Palacio San Martín.
- “It got underway under blue skies on a day declared as a national holiday to allow people to attend and relieve normal commuting traffic around the central site.” During his homily, Leo advocated for the Argentine working class, saying they face joblessness, violence, and addiction.
- Most poignantly, there were the “cartoneros,” the Argentine trash pickers and recyclers who had a pride of place during Francis’ papacy.
- Calling Córdoba a “home of saints,” Leo noted the diversity of its canonized sons and daughters to illustrate that there are many paths to holiness, including priestly or consecrated life, martyrdom, the founding of religious congregations, care of the sick, education, and lay life.
- “Just as Córdoba’s mountains are renowned for the beauty and harmony of their varied shapes and colors, so too are the saints and blesseds characterized by the different charisms and missions they received. They offer a polyphonic witness to the universal call to holiness of every baptized person: the call to be conformed to Christ,” the pope said.
- Pope Leo XIV incenses a statue of the Blessed Mother during Mass at the Military Aviation School in Córdoba, Argentina, on Nov.
- “A nation’s progress is also measured by how it welcomes all people with disabilities and particular needs,” the pope said.
- “He embodied Catholic social teaching in the business world,” she said, demonstrating that an employer can look beyond the economic dimension of a company and recognize “the dimension of human dignity.” Born in Paris to Argentine parents in 1921, Shaw entered Argentina’s naval academy as a teenager and became one of its youngest commissioned officers.
- He also became active in Argentine Catholic Action and helped found the Christian Association of Business Executives, known by its Spanish acronym ACDE, in 1952.
- María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa was an 18th-century Argentine laywoman who kept the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises alive after the Jesuits were expelled from Spanish territories.