Following is the written testimony that Cardinal Piero Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, sent to the Giornale di Vicenza newspaper, a local media outlet in his home region of Italy.

 Still «fresh» from the powerful and passionate experience of the Conclave, I am pleased to respond to the request of the «Giornale di Vicenza» to write a commentary on the election of Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, OSA.

More than a commentary, it is a brief testimony that I am able to offer, based on the joy that in such a short time the universal Church has found its Pastor, the Successor of Peter, Bishop of Rome, after the illness and death of Pope Francis, who had the patience to keep me as his Secretary of State for almost 12 years.

We firmly believe that, through the action of the Cardinal Electors — also through their humanity — it is the Holy Spirit who chooses the man destined to lead the Church. Technically, it is an election, but what happens in the Sistine Chapel under the gaze of Christ the Judge renews what happened at the beginning of the Church, when they tried to rebuild the Apostolic College after the painful defection of Judas Iscariot. Then the Apostles prayed that the Lord, who knows the hearts of all, would show them who was the chosen one (cf. Acts 12:25).

This mystery has been repeated in these days, and we are immensely grateful to the Lord who does not abandon the Church, His beloved Bride, but provides her with leaders according to His own heart. And we are immensely grateful to Pope Leo XIV for having accepted the Lord’s call to love Him «more than these» and to follow Him, to feed His sheep and his lambs as Jesus asked Peter in the Gospel passage we read last Sunday. (21:15ff.)

I believe I’m revealing no secret when I write that the «I accept» that made him the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church was followed by a very long and warm round of applause. What impressed me most about him was the serenity that shone on his face at such immense and, in a certain sense, «dramatic» moments, because they completely change a man’s life. He never lost his sweet smile, although, I imagine, he was well aware of the numerous and far from simple problems that the Church must face today. We had spoken about this at length during the Congregations of Cardinals that preceded the Conclave, where each of the participants — Cardinal Electors and Non-Electors — were able to present the face of Catholicism in their respective countries, the challenges that await him, and the prospects for the future.

And since the Church, following her Lord, is deeply incarnated in the history of men and women of all times and latitudes, the new Pope is very aware of the problems of today’s world, as he demonstrated from his first words in the Lodge of St. Peter, immediately referring to «unarmed and disarming» peace.