In 1st mass as pope, Leo XIV hopes Catholic Church can be beacon of light
Global News
Pope Leo XIV, who was born in Chicago but spent two decades as a missionary in Peru, said a few words in English before continuing his homily in fluent Italian.
Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Mass on Friday in the Sistine Chapel where he was elected less than 24 hours earlier, warning of the dangers caused by a lack of faith and hoping the Catholic Church could be a beacon lighting the world’s “dark nights.”
Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost and the first U.S. pope, looked calm as he delivered the Mass in the famous, frescoed chapel with the same cardinals who chose him to be the 267th pontiff and the successor to Pope Francis.
Dressed in relatively simple white and gold vestments, Leo, who was born in Chicago but spent two decades as a missionary in Peru, said a few words in English before continuing his homily in fluent Italian.
In the homily, Leo, 69, painted a picture of the Church he would like to see, saying he would seek to serve as the “faithful administrator” for the Church as a whole.
The new pope, who leads 1.4 billion Catholics around the world, acknowledged that the Christian faith is sometimes “considered absurd” and the preserve of “the weak and unintelligent.”
“A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society,” he said.
Leo was scheduled to have lunch with the cardinals and they will then be free to leave the Vatican and return to their homes around the world.
The pope was elected at the end of a two-day conclave that was wrapped up on Thursday evening when white smoke billowed from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel.
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The report was released to Global News under the Access to Information Act