Pope Leo XIV, the first North American pope in history, said on Friday that his election was a cross and a blessing as he celebrated his first Mass at the Sistine Chapel.
Leo spoke the cuffs in English to the Cardinals who led the Catholic Church and elected him to follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis’ social justice orientation. He acknowledged the great responsibility they placed on him before delivering a short but dense Homily about the need to willingly spread Christianity in a world that often laughs at it.
“You have called me to carry that cross and be blessed with that mission, and I know that we can walk with me as a church, as a community of Jesus, as a friend and believer of Jesus, to be blessed with that mission,” he said.
The newly elected Pope Leo XIV will wrap up the Cardinal of College and Mass within the Vatican chapel on Friday, May 9, 2025, the day after the Roman Catholic Church’s election as the 267th Bible. (Vatican Media via AP)
It was in the same fresco chapel that Leo, Chicago-born Augustine’s missionary Robert Prevost, was elected Thursday afternoon as Pope 267th, overcame the traditional ban on the pope from the United States.
A mass that could suggest his priorities
Two women gave a Bible reading at the start of the Mass. This shows Leo’s intention to follow Francis’ priorities, perhaps to expand the role of women in the church. As a cardinal, Leo practiced one of Francis’ most revolutionary reforms by serving as three women who entrust the appointment of bishops to the veterinarians.
Speaking in near perfect Italian, Leo lamented that Christian faith in many parts of the world was considered “absurd” and that he chuckled or opposed when there was temptation of money, success, power and so on. He complained in many places that Jesus was misunderstood as “reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman.”
“This applies not only to non-believers, but also among many baptized Christians. “But for this very reason, they are where our missionary outreach is desperately needed. The lack of faith often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the negation of mercy, the violation of human dignity, the crisis of family, and the denial of many other wounds that torment our society.”
The Cardinals were praised as the public concluded. Leo was seen wearing simple black shoes instead of the Pope red loafers that some traditionalist popes like.
Francis turned his eyes to the new Pope
Francis, the first Latin American pope, clearly looked at prevention, and in many respects he saw his heirs as revealed. He sent out his long-standing Prevost in Peru, taking over a complex parish in 2014. Francis then invited the Vatican Bishop’s head to the Vatican’s powerful Dicastelli in 2023.
Since his arrival in Rome, Prevost had kept his public profile low, but was well known to counters and respected by the people who worked with him. Importantly, he mainly sided one of the most revolutionary reforms Francis had made.
In a 2023 interview with Vatican News, the card at the time said women reaffirmed the need for enriching the process and for congregations to play a greater role in the church.
“Even the Bishop of Peru called him a saint of the North and he had time for everyone,” said Pastor Alexander Lamb, a monk of Augustine from Peru who knows the new Pope.
Pope Augustine
The last Pope to take the name Leo was Leo XIII, the Italian who led the church from 1878 to 1903. Leo tempered the Church’s conflicting attitudes towards modernity, particularly science and politics, and laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thinking. His most famous cyclic Novarum of 1891 was highlighted when the Vatican explained the choice of the new Pope’s name at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, addressing workers’ rights and capitalism.
The Leo also had a close relationship with Augustine’s order. He rebuilt the ancient church of Augustine and the monastery outside of Rome, near his hometown of Calpinete.
Vatican watchers said Prevost’s decision to name Leo himself was particularly important given Leo’s legacy of social justice and reform before, suggesting continuity with some of Francis’ main concerns. Specifically, Leo cited one of Francis’ important priorities in making the Catholic Church more careful to people and inclusive processes known as synodalities.
“He continues to do many Francis’ missions,” said Natalia Imperati Lee, chairman of religion at Manhattan University in the Bronx. She added that his election could send a message to the American Church, which has been badly divided between conservatives and progressives, along with the right-eyed opponents of Francis coming from there, along with conservatives and progressive opponents.
“I think it’s exciting to see another kind of American Catholicism in Rome,” Imperatilly said.
In a 2023 interview with Vatican News, Leo said polarization in the church is a wound that needs to be healed.
“The division and controversy in the church will not help anything. We bishops must accelerate this move, especially towards unity, towards communion in the church,” he said.
Leo’s brother, John Plainst, was so shocked that his brother was elected Pope, which he missed several calls from Leo in an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday. He calls for the Pope and tells him that Leo is not interested in him being part of the interview.
John Prevast described him as a fan of his brother, Wardle. He said he hopes he will become “second Pope Francis.”
“He’s not far away, so he’s not going to be real,” he added. “It’s like it’s in the middle.”
Looking ahead
According to selfies posted on social media, during his first few hours as Pope, Leo returned to his old apartment at San Fisio Palace to meet his colleagues. Vatican media showed him in the moment after the election prayed at Pauline Chapel before appearing at the loggia.
On Sunday, he delivers his first noon blessing from St. Peter’s Loggia and will be attending the audience with the media in the Vatican auditorium on Monday, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.
Beyond that, he has his first foreign trip at the end of May. Francis was invited on a trip to Turkey to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of Nicaea’s first council, a landmark event in Christian history and a key moment in Catholic Orthodox relations.
The new Pope was previously the former general or leader of the Order of St. Augustine. It was formed in the 13th century as a community of “Mendicant” monks dedicated to poverty, service and evangelization. Vatican News said Leo was the first Pope Augustine.
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