Belgian Archbishop Luc Terlinden (56) already spoke with the new pope in September: « I felt some sort of trust »
© Belga
« I was walking with my dog in the garden when there was white smoke. » Our Archbishop Luc Terlinden is happy with Pope Leo XIV. « A bridge builder who will continue the work of Francis. »
« If I were allowed to ask the new Pope one question? Then I want him to name three new Belgian bishops as soon as possible. There are just vacancies in Namur and Tournai and since last March also in Ghent. » According to Terlinden, Pope Leo XIV knows that. Until his election, he was a prefect of the dicasterie for the bishops, an organ of the Roman Curia that is responsible for the appointment of bishops, among other things. « He knows that. We talked about that when he was in Brussels in September together with Pope Francis. But I would also ask him to pray for Belgium and for peace in the world. »
Terlinden then had several encounters with the then cardinal Robert Prevost. « We slept in the same hotel and had several conversations. We also saw each other in Rome a few times. Already at the first time I felt a kind of trust. He is very friendly. Intelligent and humble. A spiritual but a man of the world. » Our Archbishop says he was « happy » when he heard the news. « Pope Leo XIV is a deep -believing man with a great pastoral experience with just like his predecessor Franciscus. And through his work in both Peru, America and Rome, he knows the world church very well. He is a bridge builder, he will continue the work of his predecessor. He is also relatively young, which makes him give his impetus to our church. » (JCD)
