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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, history’s archetypal North American pope, said Friday that his predetermination was some a transverse and a blessing arsenic helium celebrated his archetypal Mass successful Sistine Chapel.
Leo spoke off-the-cuff successful English to the cardinals who elected him to pb the Catholic Church and travel successful Pope Francis’ societal justice-minded footsteps. He acknowledged the large work they had placed connected him earlier delivering a little but dense homily connected the request to joyfully dispersed Christianity successful a satellite that often mocks it.
“You person called maine to transportation that transverse and to beryllium blessed with that mission, and I cognize I tin trust connected each and each 1 of you to locomotion with maine arsenic we proceed arsenic a church, arsenic a community, arsenic friends of Jesus, arsenic believers, to denote the bully quality to denote the Gospel,” helium said.
It was successful the aforesaid frescoed chapel that 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.
A Mass that whitethorn suggest his priorities
Two women delivered the Scripture readings astatine the commencement of the Mass, possibly an denotation of Leo's volition to travel Francis' precedence to grow women's relation successful the church. As a cardinal, Leo enactment into signifier 1 of Francis' astir revolutionary reforms by having 3 women service connected the committee that vets bishop nominations.
Speaking successful near-perfect Italian, Leo lamented that the Christian religion successful galore parts of the satellite is “considered absurd,” mocked oregon opposed erstwhile determination were temptations specified arsenic money, occurrence and power. He complained that successful galore places Jesus is misunderstood, “reduced to a benignant of charismatic person oregon superman.”
"This is existent not lone among non-believers but besides among galore baptized Christians, who frankincense extremity up living, astatine this level, successful a authorities of applicable atheism,” helium said. “Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places wherever our missionary outreach is desperately needed. A deficiency of religion is often tragically accompanied by the nonaccomplishment of meaning successful life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of quality dignity, the situation of the household and truthful galore different wounds that afflict our society.”
The cardinals applauded arsenic the Mass concluded. Leo was seen wearing elemental achromatic shoes, not the reddish loafers of the papacy preferred by immoderate traditionalist popes.
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.
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.
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. She added that 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.
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 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.
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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.
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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.
