Pope Leo has stated he hopes his papacy may help the Catholic Church be a beacon illuminating the “the dark nights of this world” – as he led his first mass since being elected pontiff.
Robert Prevost, 69 and from the US, was elected through the second day of a conclave geared toward electing a successor to the late Pope Francis, who died in April, aged 88.
The election of Pope Leo XIV, who spent a few years in Peru as a missionary, was a historic second as he grew to become the primary American to tackle the Holy See.
On Friday morning, he led his first mass because the 267th pontiff and bishop of Rome within the Sistine Chapel, the identical location the place he was elected by the eligible 133 cardinals only a day earlier than.
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Pope Leo
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Pope Leo XIV concelebrates his first mass within the Sistine Chapel. Pic: Vatican Media/AP
Wearing white and gold vestments, Pope Leo stated just a few phrases in English earlier than persevering with his homily in fluent Italian.
“God has called me by your election to succeed the prince of the apostles, and has entrusted this treasure to me,” he advised cardinals within the chapel.
“For we are the people whom God has chosen as his own, so that we may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light,” he added.
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Leo additionally stated there are settings “where it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth” and contexts the place “believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied”.
He seemed emotional as he greeted the tens of hundreds who had gathered within the well-known piazza to see who the brand new chief of the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church can be.
Along with his US citizenship, Pope Leo additionally holds Peruvian citizenship.
Because the mass unfolded on Friday, Buckingham Palace introduced the King had despatched a personal message to the Pope and congratulated him on his election because the 267th pontiff.
