Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Mass on Friday within the Sistine Chapel the place he was elected lower than 24 hours earlier, warning of the hazards attributable to an absence of religion and hoping the Catholic Church may very well be a beacon lighting the world’s “darkish nights.”
Leo, the previous Cardinal Robert Prevost and the primary U.S. pope, seemed calm as he delivered the Mass within the well-known, frescoed chapel with the identical cardinals who selected him to be the 267th pontiff and the successor to Pope Francis.
Wearing comparatively easy white and gold vestments, Leo, who was born in Chicago however spent twenty years as a missionary in Peru, stated a couple of phrases in English earlier than persevering with his homily in fluent Italian.
Within the homily, Leo, 69, painted an image of the Church he want to see, saying he would search to function the “trustworthy administrator” for the Church as an entire.
The brand new pope, who leads 1.4 billion Catholics all over the world, acknowledged that the Christian religion is usually “thought of absurd” and the protect of “the weak and unintelligent.”
“A scarcity of religion is commonly tragically accompanied by the lack of that means in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the disaster of the household and so many different wounds that afflict our society,” he stated.
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Leo was scheduled to have lunch with the cardinals and they’ll then be free to go away the Vatican and return to their houses all over the world.
Swift and secret appointment
The pope was elected on the finish of a two-day conclave that was wrapped up on Thursday night when white smoke billowed from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel.
Given the character of the conclaves, when cardinals are shut away from the world and sworn to secrecy, little or nothing is prone to emerge – a minimum of for now – about how Leo obtained the required two-thirds majority of the vote so swiftly.
The successor to Pope Francis, who died final month on the age of 88, inherits a variety of main challenges, starting from a finances shortfall to divisions over whether or not the Church must be extra welcoming in direction of the LGBT neighborhood and divorcees, and may let girls play a better position in its affairs.
He can even have a packed agenda, with the Vatican celebrating a Holy 12 months that brings hundreds of thousands of further vacationers to Rome.
Earlier than Leo’s election, U.S. cardinals had largely been written off as papal contenders due to a widespread assumption that the worldwide Church couldn’t be run by a superpower pope.
Nevertheless, he additionally holds Peruvian citizenship, that means that he has deep information of each the West and fewer developed nations.
U.S. President Donald Trump was fast to congratulate Leo. Nevertheless, the brand new pope has a historical past of criticizing Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s insurance policies, in line with posts on the X account of Robert Prevost.
Leo labored for many years within the north of Peru, first as a missionary and later as Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023. Catholics took to the streets of the small metropolis in northwestern Peru, and church bells rang out to have fun the election of a person who they embrace as certainly one of their very own.
One of many clues to what sort of a Church chief Leo shall be was in his selection of title. The final pope with this title was Leo XIII, who led the Church from 1878-1903. He was recognized for his devoted focus to social justice points.
Prevost turned a cardinal solely in 2023. He has given few media interviews and is understood to have a shy persona.
Francis introduced him to Rome two years in the past to go the Vatican workplace answerable for selecting which clergymen ought to function Catholic bishops, that means he has had a hand in choosing lots of the world’s bishops.
—Writing by Keith WeirEditing by Crispian Balmer and Frances Kerry
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