Pope Leo XIV, the first pontiff from the United States in history, celebrated his first mass before the college of cardinals and expressed: “You have called me to carry the cross and to be blessed,” while requesting their collaboration to expand the Catholic faith.
This time, Leo XIV spoke publicly in Latin and English, after having used only Italian and Spanish in his first appearances before the world from St. Peter's Basilica on Thursday.
“Jesus showed us a model of holy humanity that we can all imitate,” the pope stated, and emphasized: “God, by calling me through your vote (the cardinals), entrusts this treasure to me so that, with your help, I may be a faithful steward.”
Later, the Pope pointed out that the absence of faith causes numerous wounds that affect society as a whole, and he remembered his predecessor: “As Pope Francis has often taught us, we are called to bear witness to the joyful faith in Jesus the savior,” he emphasized.
To conclude, he expressed: “There are also contexts in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced only to a kind of charismatic leader or a superman. And this not only among non-believers but even among many baptized, who thus end up living, in this area, a de facto atheism.”
