Stephane Blanchard, a dedicated member of the Community currently serving on a Fidesco mission in Peru with his wife Sophie and their three children, shares his heartfelt reaction to the recent election of Pope Leo XIV. Living out his faith in the mission field, Stephane offers a unique and personal perspective on this significant moment for the Catholic Church.
The election of 
Pope Leo XIV moved me deeply, especially as I learned, one after the other, that he is an American (US) citizen—which is already unprecedented—and that he was a missionary in Peru for many years, to the point of also taking on Peruvian citizenship. I got chills when he spoke in Spanish to send a message to his former parishioners in the Diocese of Chiclayo. I also understood why his name sounded so French to me—because of his origins. It was almost unbelievable to feel so many connections with this Pope whom I had only discovered a few minutes earlier. Strangely, I felt so much in the right place here in Peru, as a French-American missionary in Huaycán.
