Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Sunday’s mass to mark the official start of his papacy has called on Christians to offer God’s love to all despite our human differences. It was the Holy Mass for the Beginning of the Pontificate, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
Leo, who was formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, is a 69-year-old native of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Elected on May 8, he’s the first American to lead the church.
In his homily at the Mass he said, “We are called to offer God’s love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people”.
Pope Leo XIV also said that he will rise to the task “with fear and trembling,” while still seeking to serve all with “faith and joy.”
He said that there’s “too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and the economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest.”
He called for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics to embrace a “missionary spirit,” rather than closing themselves off “in our small groups.” He called for the faithful to discard feelings of being “superior to the world.”
Attendees at the mass, included President Abola Tinubu, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with other political figures and religious dignitaries. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Australian Prime Minster Anthony Albanese were in attendance. And representatives of the Ecumenical, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Zoroastrian and Jain churches were there, the Vatican’s Holy See press office said.
He gave some insight into the papal conclave that saw him elected earlier this month, saying with 133 cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel, they “could feel the working of the Holy Spirit,” adding that the spirit “was able to bring us into harmony, like musical instruments, so that our heartstrings could vibrate in a single melody.”
“I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother,” he said, “who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family.”
