Fr. Jim Sichko: Pope Leo XIV will allow people to “walk through the door” Francis opened

RICHMOND, Ky. (ABC 36 News Now) — Loud cheers from thousands of faithful bellowed below as Pope Leo XIV made his first appearance on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

The 69-year-old — formerly know as Robert Francis Prevost — wearing his papal vestments, addressing the crowd for the first time as Pope Leo XIV, delivering his first blessing and saying ‘Peace be with you.'”

Lexington priest Father Jim Sichko believes Leo will continue to represent Pope Francis’ values.

“I believe that this is gonna be a great advancement for the Church,” says Sichko. “I believe Pope Francis opened the door for a lot of, um, issues of our day today. Immigration, LGBTQ, the marginalized, the immigrants, all of this.
And I believe that now Pope Leo XIV is really going to help the people walk through the door.”

Sichko goes on to call Leo an ‘intellect’ who, while still honoring the advancements made by the Catholic church under Francis, will take a more traditional approach.

“If you notice, he was in the traditional vestments, which signaled something Francis wasn’t,” Sichko explains. “I believe that he was sending a message with that, that he is rooted and believes in the traditional aspect of the church. But if you notice something else he did, is he ended his address in Spanish, which is very unique. Francis didn’t do that.”

After a second day of voting inside the secrecy of the Sistine Chapel, the election of Pope Leo XIV defied the longstanding belief that church leaders would never select a Pope from a global superpower with considerable influence in world affairs.

“I think the Cardinals wanted an individual who was going to build upon Francis’ style and, what I mean by that, fis by living out the gospel. Not just preaching it, but living it. As we would say, walking the walk to the talk you talk.”