Rome, May 9, (dpa/GNA) – In his first mass as the new leader of the Catholic Church on Friday, Pope Leo XIV warned that losing one’s faith can have “dramatic side effects.”
These include finding that “the meaning of life is lost, mercy is forgotten, human dignity is violated in the most dramatic ways, the crisis of the family and many other wounds from which our society is suffering significantly,” he said, speaking in Italian.
The comments came one day after Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was announced as the first US pontiff, with white smoke emerging from the Sistine Chapel chimney after four rounds of voting in the papal conclave.
Now Pope Leo XIV, he presided over the first mass since his election on Friday morning, flanked by cardinals in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.
The 69-year-old said faith is regarded as something “absurd,” as something for “weak and unintelligent people.”
Faith is often replaced by other things such as technology, money, success, power and pleasure, Leo said.
He added that the figure of Jesus Christ is often seen merely as a “charismatic leader or superhuman.” This, he said, was effectively a form of atheism.
Before his sermon, Leo addressed the cardinals in English, saying they had called on him 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,” the Chicago-born pope said.
Leo, who also has Peruvian citizenship, was clad in a long white robe and wearing a traditional mitre.
He wore dark shoes, not the red shoes worn by many previous popes, which his predecessor Francis had also eschewed.
The cardinals likewise wore white robes with gold embellishments. The chapel is the same location where the cardinals elected Prevost as pope during the conclave.
The pope is the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. The faithful are eager to see how Leo will shape the Catholic Church.
The new pontiff has a packed schedule for the coming days, including an expected appearance at around midday on Sunday on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica for the traditional Regina Coeli prayer.
Around 100,000 people cheered him in St Peter’s Square on Thursday after white smoke signalled a new pontiff had been chosen.
Pope Leo is to be inaugurated on May 18 with a mass in St Peter’s Square, the Vatican said later, in a ceremony due to take place at 10 am (0800 GMT) next Sunday in the Vatican.
The new pope is set to keep Francis’ top employees in the Vatican in place for the time being, the Holy See said on Friday.
The first of his weekly general audiences is planned for May 21.
GNA
PDC