Pope Leo XIV on Friday called on the cardinals who elected him for help to spread the Catholic faith during his first mass in Rome as pontiff.
Wearing white vestments, Pope Leo entered the Sistine Chapel and blessed the ranks of cardinals as he approached the altar.
Addressing them, he said in English: "You have called me to carry the cross and to be blessed. I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me."
It was the first time Pope Leo made public remarks in English. On Thursday night after his election he spoke in Italian and Spanish from the loggia of St Peter’s Basilica.
"There are places or situations where it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied," he said.
"Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed."
Born Robert Francis Prevost on 14 September 1955 in Chicago, he became the 267th pope and the first American to lead the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.
American Pope Leo XIV to celebrate first mass after historic election
In taking the name Leo, he is the first to use the moniker since Vincenzo Gioacchino Pecci in 1878 who was widely hailed for his stances on social reforms and was nicknamed the "Pope of the Workers".
Pope Leo, who worked as a missionary in Peru, told the cardinals he deplored the settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent.
Echoing his predecessor, Pope Francis, he said people were turning to technology, money, success, power, or pleasure.
"A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society," he added.
On Sunday, Pope Leo will deliver his first noon blessing from the loggia of St Peter’s Basilica.
Trajectory
Pope Leo succeeds Pope Francis, who died on 21 April at the age of 88 after 12 years as pontiff.
In 2014, Pope Francis sent Prevost to take over a complicated diocese in the country.
In 2023, he recalled him to Rome to be head of the Vatican’s powerful Dicastery for Bishops, which vets bishop nominations around the world and is one of the most important jobs in church governance.
Earlier this year, Pope Francis elevated Prevost into the senior ranks of cardinals, giving him prominence going into the conclave that few other cardinals had.
Since arriving in Rome, Prevost had kept a low public profile but was well-known to the men who count, and respected by those who worked with him. Significantly, he presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms Pope Francis made, when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope.
In a 2023 interview with Vatican News, the then-cardinal said the women had enriched the process and reaffirmed the need for the laity to have a greater role in the church.
Honour
The American president Donald Trump was on Thursday among the world leaders to send congratulations to the new pope.
Trump said the appointment was an honour for the United States. "We’re a little bit surprised and we’re happy,” Trump added.
Prevost has shared concerns about the American government's policies on migration. In past social media posts, he passed on messages criticising justification of the administration's mass deportation plans.
“He is continuing a lot of Pope Francis’ ministry,’’ said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, the chair of religious studies at Manhattan University in the Bronx.
But she also said his election could send a message to the Catholic Church in the US, which has been badly divided between conservatives and progressives.
“I think it is going to be exciting to see a different kind of American Catholicism in Rome,’’ Imperatori-Lee said.
