Pope Leo XIV (C) celebrating Mass on Friday with the Cardinal electors in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City. Photo courtesy Vatican Media/EPA-EFE
Pope Leo XIV held the first mass of his papacy Friday morning in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel with the cardinals who elected him leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics and Vatican head of state a little more than 12 hours earlier.
Speaking initially in English, Chicago-born Leo, whose real name is Robert Prevost, thanked the assembled cardinals for placing their trust in him in the 90 minute service in which he also acknowleged the practical side of his role as “administrator” of the church.
“My brother Cardinals, as we celebrate this morning I invite you to reflect on the marvels the Lord has done, the blessings that the Lord continues to pour out on all of us through the Ministry of Peter.
“You have called me to carry that cross, and to carry out that mission, and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me, as we continue as a Church, as a community of friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the Good News, to announce the Gospel,” he said, before reverting to Italian for his homily based around the first pope, Saint Peter.
Leo said his election as the 267th pope yesterday afternoon, was God calling him to succeed Peter, and that God “has entrusted this treasure to me so that, with his help, I may be its faithful administrator for the sake of the entire mystical Body of the Church.”
In a nod to his predecessor, Pope Francis, Leo urged humility, calling on all in the church to “move aside so that Christ may remain, to make oneself small so that he may be known and glorified.”
He said missionary outreach was needed more than ever to compete with the draw of technology, riches and pleasure and in a world where it was becoming harder for the church’s message to be heard with believers “mocked, opposed, despised, or at best tolerated and pitied.”
“Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure,” said Leo.
Calling on people to imitate the model of “human holiness,” Jesus Christ had shown to the world so many centuries before, Leo warned that life without faith was life without meaning.
Leo, 69, a graduate of Villanova University, a Catholic university just outside Philadelphia, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, spent much of his career in Peru and is seen as a reformer.
Peru celebrated the election of Prevost, a dual-U.S.-Peruvian citizen, from President Dina Boluarte on down.
However, the BBC reported that he had faced questions in Peru about his handling of sexual abuse allegations against priests while he was Bishop of Chicaylo, after being appointed by Francis in 2014.
In 2023, three Peruvian women claimed that Prevost failed to investigate complaints they had lodged about being abused in their teens by two priests in Chiclayo.
They said no proper investigation was begun when they took their allegations to the diocese in 2022.
Chiclayo diocese officials insist that action was taken and the priests were suspended while the case was referred to the authorities in the Vatican in charge of dealing with allegations involving serious abuse.
The Vatican officials opted not to proceed to a full canonical trial, opting instead to wrap up their investigation after a preliminary inquiry, said the diocese.
Like Francis, Prevost was an apparent long-time, vocal, critic of aspects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s presidency, according to CNN which a social media account in Prevost’s name had reposted posts and articles attacking his immigration policies.
“He sees the United States headed in the wrong direction in terms of immigration,” John Prevost, the new pope’s brother said.
In 2020, Leo offered prayers for George Floyd after he was killed by a Minneapolis police officer and appeared to support the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests, although he urged people to ensure demonstations did not descend into violence.
CNN said it had been unable to independently confirm the account belonged to Prevost or was controlled by his office.
