1 month ago
52
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, history’s archetypal North American pope, celebrated his archetypal Mass arsenic pontiff connected Friday, presiding successful the Sistine Chapel with the cardinals who elected him to win Pope Francis and travel successful his societal justice-minded footsteps.
Wearing achromatic vestments, Leo processed into the Sistine Chapel and blessed the cardinals arsenic helium approached the altar and Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment” down it. He delivered the opening prayers and hymns successful Latin, and women work the archetypal Scripture readings.
Addressing the cardinals successful English, helium said “you person called maine to transportation the transverse and to beryllium blessed” and asked for their assistance to dispersed the Catholic faith. It was the archetypal clip Leo made nationalist remarks successful English, aft helium spoke successful Italian and Spanish lone successful his archetypal comments from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica connected Thursday.
Leo, the Chicago-born Augustinian missionary Robert Prevost, was elected Thursday day arsenic the 267th pope, overcoming the accepted prohibition against a pope from the United States.
In his archetypal quality to the satellite Thursday evening, the 69-year-old wore the accepted reddish cape of the papacy — which Francis had eschewed connected his predetermination successful 2013 — suggesting a instrumentality to immoderate grade of rule-following aft Francis’ unorthodox pontificate.
But successful naming himself Leo, aft the 19th period societal justness reformer pope and referring to immoderate of Francis' priorities, the caller pope could besides person wanted to awesome a beardown enactment of continuity: Another Leo successful religion past was Brother Leo, the 13th-century friar who was a large companion to St. Francis of Assisi, the precocious pope’s namesake.
“Together, we indispensable effort to find retired however to beryllium a missionary church, a religion that builds bridges, establishes dialogue, that’s ever unfastened to person — similar connected this piazza with unfastened arms — to beryllium capable to person everybody that needs our charity, our presence, dialog and love,” Leo said successful near-perfect Italian successful his archetypal comments to the world.
Francis had his oculus connected the caller pope
Francis, the archetypal Latin American pope, intelligibly had his oculus connected Prevost and successful galore ways saw him arsenic his heir apparent. He sent Prevost, who had spent years arsenic a missionary successful Peru, to instrumentality implicit a analyzable diocese determination successful 2014. Francis past brought Prevost to the Vatican successful 2023 to caput of the Vatican’s almighty Dicastery for Bishops, which vets bishop nominations astir the satellite and is 1 of the astir important jobs successful religion governance.
Earlier this year, Francis elevated Prevost into the elder ranks of cardinals, giving him prominence going into the conclave that fewer different cardinals had.
There had agelong been a taboo connected a U.S. pope, fixed America’s superpower presumption successful the secular world. But Prevost prevailed, possibly due to the fact that he’s besides a Peruvian national and had lived for 2 decades successful Peru, archetypal arsenic a missionary and past arsenic bishop.
Since arriving successful Rome, Prevost had kept a debased nationalist illustration but was well-known to the men who count, and respected by those who worked with him. Significantly, helium presided implicit 1 of the astir revolutionary reforms Francis made, erstwhile helium added 3 women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to guardant to the pope.
In a 2023 interrogation with Vatican News, the then-cardinal said the women had enriched the process and reaffirmed the request for the laity to person a greater relation successful the church.
“Even the bishops of Peru called him the saint, the Saint of the North, and helium had clip for everyone,” said the Rev. Alexander Lam, an Augustinian friar from Peru who knows the caller pope.
Reactions to a North American
The assemblage successful St. Peter’s Square erupted successful cheers Thursday erstwhile achromatic fume poured retired of the Sistine Chapel soon aft 6 p.m. connected the 2nd time of the conclave. Waving flags from astir the world, tens of thousands of radical were amazed an hr aboriginal erstwhile the elder cardinal deacon announced the victor was Prevost.
U.S. President Donald Trump said it was “such an grant for our country” for the caller pope to beryllium American. The president added that “we’re a small spot amazed and we’re happy.”
Prevost has shared disapproval of the Trump medication 's migration policies: In past societal media posts, Prevost shared articles criticizing Vice President JD Vance's justification of the administration's wide deportation plans.
An Augustinian pope
The past pope to instrumentality the sanction Leo was Leo XIII, an Italian who led the religion from 1878 to 1903. That Leo softened the church’s confrontational stance toward modernity, particularly subject and politics, and laid the instauration for modern Catholic societal thought. His astir celebrated encyclical, Rerum Novarum of 1891, addressed workers’ rights and capitalism astatine the opening of the concern gyration and was highlighted by the Vatican successful explaining the caller pope’s prime of name.
That Leo besides had adjacent ties to the Augustinian order: He rebuilt an past Augustinian religion and convent adjacent his hometown of Carpineto, extracurricular Rome, which is inactive successful usage by the caller pope's bid today.
Vatican watchers said Prevost’s determination to sanction himself Leo was peculiarly important fixed the erstwhile Leo’s bequest of societal justness and reform, suggesting continuity with immoderate of Francis’ main concerns. Specifically, Leo cited 1 of Francis’ cardinal priorities of making the Catholic Church much attentive to laic radical and inclusive, a process known arsenic synodality.
“He is continuing a batch of Francis’ ministry,’’ said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, the seat of spiritual studies astatine Manhattan University successful the Bronx. But she besides said his predetermination could nonstop a connection to the U.S. church, which has been severely divided betwixt conservatives and progressives, with overmuch of the right-wing absorption to Francis coming from there.
“I deliberation it is going to beryllium breathtaking to spot a antithetic benignant of American Catholicism successful Rome,’’ Imperatori-Lee said.
Leo said successful a 2023 interrogation with Vatican News that the polarization successful the religion was a coiled that needed to beryllium healed.
“Divisions and polemics successful the religion bash not assistance anything. We bishops particularly indispensable accelerate this question towards unity, towards communion successful the church,” helium said.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda, of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, told reporters helium ne'er thought helium would spot an American pope, fixed the questions of however helium would navigate dealing with a U.S. president, particularly idiosyncratic similar Trump.
“And truthful I conscionable ne'er imagined that we would person an American pope, and I person large assurance that Pope Leo volition bash a fantastic occupation of navigating that,” helium said.
Leo's brother, John Prevost, was truthful shocked that his member had been elected pope that helium missed respective telephone calls from Leo during an interrogation Thursday with The Associated Press. He called the pope backmost and Leo told him helium wasn't funny successful being portion of the interview.
John Prevost described his brother, a instrumentality of Wordle, arsenic being precise acrophobic for the mediocre and those who don’t person a voice. He said helium expects him to beryllium a “second Pope Francis.”
“He’s not going to beryllium existent acold near and he’s not going to beryllium existent acold right,” helium added. “Kind of close down the middle.”
Looking ahead
In his archetypal hours arsenic pope, Leo went backmost to his aged flat successful the Sant'Uffizio Palace to spot colleagues, according to selfies posted to societal media. Vatican Media besides showed him successful the moments aft his predetermination praying astatine a kneeler successful the Pauline Chapel earlier emerging connected the loggia.
On Sunday, helium is to present his archetypal noon blessing from the loggia of St. Peter’s and be an assemblage with the media connected Monday successful the Vatican auditorium, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said.
Beyond that, helium has a imaginable archetypal overseas travel astatine the extremity of May: Francis had been invited to question to Turkey to commemorate the 1,700th day of the First Council of Nicaea, a landmark lawsuit successful Christian past and an important infinitesimal successful Catholic-Orthodox relations.
The caller pope was formerly the anterior general, oregon leader, of the Order of St. Augustine, which was formed successful the 13th period arsenic a assemblage of “mendicant” friars — dedicated to poverty, work and evangelization. Vatican News said Leo is the archetypal Augustinian pope.
In Peru, helium is known arsenic the saintly missionary who waded done mud aft torrential rains flooded the region, bringing assistance to needy people, and arsenic the bishop who spearheaded the lifesaving acquisition of oxygen accumulation plants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He has nary occupation fixing a broken-down motortruck until it runs,” said Janinna Sesa, who met Prevost portion she worked for the church’s Caritas charity.
___
Franklin Briceno successful Lima Peru, Obed Lamy and Hallie Golden successful New Lenox, Ill, Colleen Barry successful Schiavon, Italy and Vanessa Gera and Giada Zampano successful Rome contributed.
___
Associated Press religion sum receives enactment done the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with backing from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely liable for this content.
