Pope Leo XIV addresses cardinals in the Sistine Chapel during his first Mass as pope on Friday, May 9, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, May 9, 2025 / 13:52 pm (CNA).

In his first Mass as head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV called on the faithful to “bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the Savior” in a world where “a lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life.” 

Preaching in the Sistine Chapel on May 9 to the cardinals who elected him, the first pope born in the United States opened his homily in English. 

“My brother cardinals, as we celebrate this morning, I invite you to recognize the marvels that the Lord has done, the blessings that the Lord continues to pour out on all of us through the ministry of Peter,” the new pope said, speaking off the cuff.

 “You have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission, and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me, as we continue as a Church, as a community of friends of Jesus, as believers to announce the good news, to announce the Gospel.” 

He continued the rest of the homily in Italian, reflecting on the Gospel question Jesus posed to Peter: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 

Leo XIV — the Chicago native and Augustinian missionary born Robert Prevost — said the world’s response often rejects Jesus “because of his demands for honesty and his stern moral requirements.” 

“Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure,” he said.

“These are contexts 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 continued. “Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed.”

“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.” 

The pope said this is “the world that has been entrusted to us,” where believers are “called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the Savior.” 

“It is essential to do this, first of all, in our personal relationship with the Lord, in our commitment to a daily journey of conversion. Then, to do so as a Church, experiencing together our fidelity to the Lord and bringing the good news to all,” he said. 

“I say this first of all to myself, as the successor of Peter, as I begin my mission as bishop of Rome and, according to the well-known expression of St. Ignatius of Antioch, am called to preside in charity over the universal Church (cf. Letter to the Romans, Prologue),” he said. 

“St. Ignatius, who was led in chains to this city, the place of his impending sacrifice, wrote to the Christians there: ‘Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world no longer sees my body’ (Letter to the Romans, IV, 1),” the pope said.  

“Ignatius was speaking about being devoured by wild beasts in the arena — and so it happened — but his words apply more generally to an indispensable commitment for all those in the Church who exercise a ministry of authority. It is to move aside so that Christ may remain, to make oneself small so that he may be known and glorified (cf. Jn 3:30), to spend oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love him. May God grant me this grace, today and always, through the loving intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church.” 

Leo XIV offered the Mass in the Sistine Chapel, where he was elected Thursday afternoon as the 266th successor of Peter. It marked the first time Pope Leo XIV prayed the Eucharistic Prayer as bishop of Rome, saying “and me, your unworthy servant.” 

Beneath Michelangelo’s frescoes, Leo prayed the prayers of the Mass in Latin. The two readings were delivered in English and Spanish. At the end of the liturgy, he led the cardinals in singing the Marian Easter hymn “Regina Caeli,” joined by the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel Choir. 

The Vatican announced that Leo will be formally installed at a Mass on May 18 and will preside over his first general audience May 21. He is scheduled to deliver his first Regina Caeli blessing at noon on Sunday. 

Singaporean theology student Dominic Nalpon managed to arrive at the center of St. Peter’s Square in time to hear the awaited “Habemus papam!” (“We have a pope!”) announcement and see the new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, on May 8, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Dominic Nalpon

Rome Newsroom, May 9, 2025 / 12:26 pm (CNA).

From Europe to the Asia Pacific, millions of Catholics are celebrating the election of U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV as the 267th leader of the Catholic Church.

After news of “white smoke” began to spread across Rome, Singaporean theology student Dominic Nalpon managed to arrive at the center of St. Peter’s Square in time to hear the awaited “Habemus papam!” (“We have a pope!”) announcement and see the new Holy Father.

“My first impression of the new Pope Leo XIV was that he had a sense of presence about him,” Nalpon told CNA on Thursday. “I was especially joyful at his name ‘Leo’ as it brings to mind two other popes of the same name who are dear to me.”

“Leo the Great who is a doctor of the Church and the one who turned away the Huns from invading Rome through the intercession of Sts. Peter and Paul,” the Angelicum student continued, “and Leo the XIII, who is renowned for laying the foundations for Catholic social teaching and reviving Thomism.”

Father Dante Bendoy, OSA, prior provincial of the Augustinian Province of the Philippines, praised the new pope’s “genuine pastoral heart” and “deep commitment to our order and the Church.” 

“As Augustinians, we take pride and joy in his election, for he is the first Augustinian to be elected pope — a historic milestone that fills our hearts with gratitude and hope,” Bendoy said in a Friday statement.

“We cherish the memories of his warm presence, the Mass he celebrated with us, his humility, and the photos we shared,” he said after recounting the several times Pope Leo XIV — as prior general of the Augustinians from 2001 to 2013 — visited the Philippines. 

While Bendoy recognized his confrere’s recent election as a “divine blessing,” he said the papal office is a “high calling” that is “not without its crosses.”

“Let us be reminded that, just as our Holy Father Augustine did, there is always grace on the cross,” the Filipino religious superior said. “We his Augustinian family stand united in prayer and support, confident that God’s grace will sustain him in his sacred mission.”

Religious priests who had the opportunity to meet Pope Leo during his visits to India in 2004 and 2006 have also expressed their joy with the news of the Church’s first Augustinian pope, Agenzia Fides reported on Friday.

“When he was here, we knew him as an extraordinarily simple person, down-to-earth, always ready to face the difficulties of everyday life,” said Father Jacob Mullassery, OSA, who accompanied him on both visits.   

“Before each meeting or pastoral activity, he spent a long time in silent Eucharistic adoration,” recalled Father Metro Xavier, OSA. “He demonstrated a profound love for the Church and total reverence for her magisterium — his spiritual life gave us a testimony of prayer and simplicity.”

In Australia, pastors of Holy Spirit Parish in Sydney also shared their pride on social media for having hosted the new Holy Father during his visit to their church in 2005. 

“We rejoice in the election of our dear brother Robert Cardinal Prevost, OSA, as Roman pontiff … God bless our new pope,” the Facebook post read. “The [then] prior general of the Augustinian order visited our parish and presided over Mass on Dec. 16, 2005.”

Pope Leo XIV gives the homily at Mass with the cardinale electors in the Sistine Chapel on May 9, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, May 9, 2025 / 08:57 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV delivered this homily at his first Mass as pope in the Sistine Chapel on May 9, the morning after being elected the 266th successor of St. Peter, addressing the cardinal electors who had chosen him.

I will begin with a word in English, and the rest is in Italian. But I want to repeat the words from the responsorial Psalm: “I will sing a new song to the Lord, because he has done marvels.”

And indeed, not just with me but with all of us. My brother cardinals, as we celebrate this morning, I invite you to recognize the marvels that the Lord has done, the blessings that the Lord continues to pour out on all of us through the ministry of Peter.

You have called me to carry that cross, and to be blessed with that mission, and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me, as we continue as a Church, as a community of friends of Jesus, as believers to announce the good news, to announce the Gospel.

[Continuing in Italian] “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). In these words, Peter, asked by the Master, together with the other disciples, about his faith in him, expressed the patrimony that the Church, through the apostolic succession, has preserved, deepened, and handed on for 2,000 years.

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God: the one Savior who alone reveals the face of the Father.

In him, God, in order to make himself close and accessible to men and women, revealed himself to us in the trusting eyes of a child, in the lively mind of a young person, and in the mature features of a man (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22), finally appearing to his disciples after the Resurrection with his glorious body. He thus showed us a model of human holiness that we can all imitate, together with the promise of an eternal destiny that transcends all our limits and abilities.

Peter, in his response, understands both of these things: the gift of God and the path to follow in order to allow himself to be changed by that gift. They are two inseparable aspects of salvation entrusted to the Church to be proclaimed for the good of the human race. Indeed, they are entrusted to us, who were chosen by him before we were formed in our mothers’ wombs (cf. Jer 1:5), reborn in the waters of Baptism and, surpassing our limitations and with no merit of our own, brought here and sent forth from here, so that the Gospel might be proclaimed to every creature (cf. Mk 16:15).

In a particular way, God has called me by your election to succeed the Prince of the Apostles, and has entrusted this treasure to me so that, with his help, I may be its faithful administrator (cf. 1 Cor 4:2) for the sake of the entire mystical Body of the Church. He has done so in order that she may be ever more fully a city set on a hill (cf. Rev 21:10), an ark of salvation sailing through the waters of history and a beacon that illumines the dark nights of this world. And this, not so much through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings – like the monuments among which we find ourselves – but rather through the holiness of her members. 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 marvelous light (cf. 1 Pet 2:9).

Peter, however, makes his profession of faith in reply to a specific question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Mt 16:13). The question is not insignificant. It concerns an essential aspect of our ministry, namely, the world in which we live, with its limitations and its potential, its questions and its convictions.

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” If we reflect on the scene we are considering, we might find two possible answers, which characterize two different attitudes. 

First, there is the world’s response. Matthew tells us that this conversation between Jesus and his disciples takes place in the beautiful town of Caesarea Philippi, filled with luxurious palaces, set in a magnificent natural landscape at the foot of Mount Hermon, but also a place of cruel power plays and the scene of betrayals and infidelity. This setting speaks to us of a world that considers Jesus a completely insignificant person, at best someone with an unusual and striking way of speaking and acting. And so, once his presence becomes irksome because of his demands for honesty and his stern moral requirements, this “world” will not hesitate to reject and eliminate him.

Then there is the other possible response to Jesus’ question: that of ordinary people. For them, the Nazarene is not a charlatan, but an upright man, one who has courage, who speaks well and says the right things, like other great prophets in the history of Israel. That is why they follow him, at least for as long as they can do so without too much risk or inconvenience. Yet to them he is only a man, and therefore, in times of danger, during his passion, they too abandon him and depart disappointed.

What is striking about these two attitudes is their relevance today. They embody notions that we could easily find on the lips of many men and women in our own time, even if, while essentially identical, they are expressed in different language.

Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure.

These are contexts 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. Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed. 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.

Today, too, there are many settings in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman. This is true not only among non-believers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism.

This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the Savior. Therefore, it is essential that we too repeat, with Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16).

It is essential to do this, first of all, in our personal relationship with the Lord, in our commitment to a daily journey of conversion. Then, to do so as a Church, experiencing together our fidelity to the Lord and bringing the Good News to all (cf. Lumen Gentium, 1).

I say this first of all to myself, as the Successor of Peter, as I begin my mission as Bishop of Rome and, according to the well-known expression of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, am called to preside in charity over the universal Church (cf. Letter to the Romans, Prologue). Saint Ignatius, who was led in chains to this city, the place of his impending sacrifice, wrote to the Christians there: “Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world no longer sees my body” (Letter to the Romans, IV, 1). Ignatius was speaking about being devoured by wild beasts in the arena – and so it happened – but his words apply more generally to an indispensable commitment for all those in the Church who exercise a ministry of authority. It is to move aside so that Christ may remain, to make oneself small so that he may be known and glorified (cf. Jn 3:30), to spend oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love him.

May God grant me this grace, today and always, through the loving intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church.

Pope Leo XIV is seen flanked by cardinals at St. Peter’s Basilica shortly after his election, Thursday, May 8, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, May 9, 2025 / 08:40 am (CNA).

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected as the 267th pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV. Follow here for news and information about the 266th successor to St. Peter:

Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful in St. Peter’s Square shortly after his election to the papacy, Thursday, May 8, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Staff, May 9, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

On May 8, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV by the College of Cardinals as the 266th successor of St. Peter, making him the 267th pope and the first from the United States.  

Here are 14 things to know about Pope Leo XIV:

1. Robert Francis Prevost was born on Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago to Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian descent, and Mildred Martínez, of Spanish descent. He has two brothers, Louis Martín and John Joseph. 

2. His father was a World War II Navy veteran and school superintendent; his mother was a librarian who was very involved in parish life.

3. The new pope speaks multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese.

4. He earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Villanova University in 1977 before pursuing his religious vocation.

5. He completed his secondary studies at the minor seminary of the Augustinians in 1973 in Michigan. In 1977, he became a member of the Order of St. Augustine and took his solemn vows in 1981. 

6. He completed a master of divinity degree at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and earned a licentiate and doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He went on to teach canon law in seminaries during his time in Peru.  

7. He was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982, by Archbishop Jean Jadot in Rome.

8. He served extensively in Peru from 1985 to 1998, working as a parish pastor, seminary teacher, and diocesan official. He was also part of the leadership of Caritas Peru, the Church’s charitable organization.

9. After being elected the head of the Augustinian Province of Chicago, he returned to the U.S. in 1999. He was elected prior general of the Augustinians in 2001 and then reelected in 2007, serving as head of the order until 2013.

10. Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator and then bishop of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014 and 2015 respectively, and received episcopal consecration on Dec. 12, 2014, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Chiclayo.

11. He was made a cardinal by Pope Francis on Sept. 30, 2023. 

12. While serving the Church in Peru, Francis made him a member of the Dicastery for the Clergy in 2019 and then a member of the Dicastery for Bishops in 2020. In 2023, Francis made him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. 

13. His episcopal motto — which is a bishop’s personal motto — is “In illo uno unum,” which means “In the one Christ we are one,” reflecting his commitment to unity.

14. Prior to becoming pope, he had an active X account — the first to have his own social media account before becoming pope.

Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square shortly after his election on Thursday, May 8, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, May 9, 2025 / 04:57 am (CNA).

Just hours after being elected the Catholic Church’s 267th pontiff, Pope Leo XIV has three appointments on his agenda: a Mass with cardinals, praying the Regina Caeli, and greeting journalists and media who covered the conclave.

According to Vatican News, Leo XIV will celebrate a Mass at 11 a.m. Rome time with the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel.

Then he will lead his first Regina Caeli, a Marian prayer recited especially during the Easter season, at Roman noon on Sunday.

Rather than leading the prayer from a window of the Apostolic Palace, as popes have customarily done on Sundays for the Angelus or Regina Caeli, he is scheduled to appear again at the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, as he did after the “habemus papam” announcement on May 8.

On the following morning, the new pope will greet the journalists and media professionals who have been in Rome to cover the funeral of Pope Francis, the “sede vacante,” and the conclave.

After his election on May 8, the 69-year-old pope returned to the building where he has been living in Rome, the Palazzo Sant’Uffizio, a Vatican building housing the offices of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the apartments of some Vatican officials.

Photos shared on X by Xaviere Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, show Leo XIV greeting Becquart and taking a “selfie” with her and others during his surprise visit to the Palazzo Sant’Uffizio after he was announced as pope.

ROME (CNS) -- While it is interesting and perhaps even a point of pride that the new Pope Leo XIV was born in the United States, most of the U.S.-based cardinals who participated in the conclave that elected him said nationality was not a factor.

"I think the impact of him being an American was almost negligible in the deliberations of the conclave and surprisingly so," Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington told reporters May 9 during a news conference at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

"What surprised me was the real absence of that being a key question at all," the cardinal said. 

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, retired archbishop of Galveston-Houston, told the reporters that while the cardinals chose a pope who is a U.S. citizen, "he's really a citizen of the entire world since he has spent so much of his life, ministry, missionary work and zeal for Christ in South America," mainly in Peru.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York said, "The fact that he was born in the United States of America, boy, that's a sense of pride and gratitude for us," but the new pope is also a citizen of Peru. And he has work in the Roman Curia as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops for the past two years.

"He's a citizen of the world," Cardinal Dolan said.

"Where he comes from is now sort of a thing of the past. You know, Robert Francis Prevost is no longer around. It's now Pope Leo," the cardinal said. "He's the pontiff of the church universal. Where he came from, (that's) secondary."

The cardinals were asked to what extent could people interpret the election of Pope Leo "as a reflection of the desire of the cardinals to offer a counterweight to the global influence of President Trump."

Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, the retired archbishop of Washington, said, "The cardinals were quite aware of things that have occurred in the United States, statements that have been made, political actions that have been taken."

"But what the cardinals were concerned about primarily, at least from my conversations with them," Cardinal Gregory said, "was, 'Who among us can bring us together; who among us can strengthen the faith and bring the faith to places where it has grown weak, bring the faith to places where there seems to be less enthusiasm or appreciation of the common things that draw us together?'" 

Cardinal Dolan responded, "It should not startle us that we would look to Pope Leo as a bridge builder. That's what the Latin word 'pontiff' means. He's a bridge builder. Will he want to build bridges with Donald Trump? I suppose, but he would want to build bridges with the leader of every nation. So, I don't think at all that my brother cardinals would have thought of it as a conduit to any one person."

The cardinals at the news conference all mentioned the cardinals going into the conclave looking for someone who could proclaim the Gospel and strengthen the unity of the church while also continuing the approach and projects of Pope Francis.

"We are looking for someone to follow the pathway of Francis, but we are not looking for a photocopy," Cardinal McElroy said. 

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, Pope Leo's hometown, told reporters that the church does not speak of replacements for a bishop or pope, but of successors for them.

"That's a very important distinction to make, and that is what we were looking for as well," Cardinal Cupich said. The cardinals asked themselves, "Who could bring forward the not only the ministry and life and tradition of Francis, but everything that preceded him, especially from that pivotal moment of life in the church (that was) the Second Vatican Council." 

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the United States, quoted the French poet Charles Peguy: "Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics."

The conclave was the opposite, he said. In the days of preparation for the conclave, the media particularly had taken a political view of the election of the new pope.

"What I experienced was that everything begins in politics and ends in mysticism. This is what we lived" in the conclave, Cardinal Pierre said. The conclave began "in this kind of confusion" of languages, cultures and not knowing each other.

The only solution, he said, was to dialogue and listen to one another, setting aside prejudices and entering into a process of prayerful discernment. 

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, said he had known Pope Leo for 30 years; they were in Rome together in the late 1990s and early 2000s when Cardinal Tobin was superior general of the Redemptorists and Pope Leo was superior of the Augustinian friars. More recently, Cardinal Tobin served as a member of the Dicastery for Bishops, where then-Cardinal Robert F. Prevost was prefect.

Talking about the new pope's international experience, Cardinal Tobin first referred to him as "Bob" and then corrected himself, "Pope Leo."

Describing the new pope's leadership style, Cardinal Tobin said, "I don't think he's one that likes to pick fights, but he is not one to back down if the cause is just. And I guess the last thing I'd say about Bob is that he really is a listener, and then he acts."

Cardinal Tobin said that during the actual election in the Sistine Chapel, when he went up to cast his ballot as the outcome became clearer, he walked by then-Cardinal Prevost, "who had his head in his hands."

"I was praying for him, because I couldn't imagine what happens to a human being when you're facing something like that. And then when he accepted it, it was like he was made for it," the cardinal said. "All of the anguish or whatever was resolved by feeling -- I think -- that this wasn't simply his saying yes to a proposal, but that God had made something clear, and he agreed with that."
 

Question to U.S. cardinals: Did Trump influence conclave?

At a news conference at the Pontifical North American College May 9, U.S. cardinal electors were asked whether President Trump or the new pope's American citizenship had an impact on the conclave's outcome.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Where Christians are "mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied" is where the Catholic Church's "missionary outreach is most desperately needed," Pope Leo XIV said in his first homily as leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

Today, "there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent, settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power or pleasure," the new pope told cardinals May 9 during Mass in the Sistine Chapel.

"This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the savior," he said.

The day after his election, the new pope returned to the chapel where his fellow 132 cardinals elected him pope -- the first U.S. citizen, first Peruvian citizen, first Augustinian friar and likely the first Chicago White Sox fan to become pope -- to celebrate his first Mass with the College of Cardinals.

Wearing black shoes instead of the traditional red associated with the papacy and walking into the Sistine Chapel carrying Pope Benedict XIV's papal ferula, or staff, the pope processed into the chapel.

After two women read the Mass readings in English and Spanish -- a possible nod to the new pope's U.S. and Peruvian background -- he greeted the cardinals in English, marking his first public use of the language.

"Through the ministry of Peter, you have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission," he said, "and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me as we continue as a church, as a community of friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the good news, to announce the Gospel."

The Mass, largely in Latin, was celebrated at a portable altar brought into the Sistine Chapel, as opposed to the fixed altar which requires the celebrant to face East, away from the congregation.

In his homily, spoken in Italian, Pope Leo said God had called him to be a "faithful administrator" of the church so that she may be "a beacon that illumines the dark nights of this world."

"And this, not so much through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings, like the monuments among which we find ourselves, but rather through the holiness of her members," he said, standing before Michelangelo's "The Last Judgment" in the Sistine Chapel.

Reflecting on Jesus' question to the apostle Peter in St. Matthew's Gospel -- "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" -- Pope Leo said one might find two possible responses: the world's, which considers Jesus "a completely insignificant person" who becomes "irksome because of his demands for honesty and his stern moral requirements," and that of ordinary people, who see him as an "upright man, one who has courage, who speaks well and says the right things."

"Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent," he said. In these settings, "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," the pope said.

And in many settings in which Jesus is appreciated, the pope said, he can be "reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman."

"This is true not only among nonbelievers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism," he said. "Therefore, it is essential that we too repeat, with Peter: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'"

"I say this first of all to myself, as the successor of Peter, as I begin my mission as bishop of Rome," he said. Referencing St. Ignatius of Antioch, he said the commitment for all who exercise authority in the church is "to move aside so that Christ may remain, to make oneself small so that he may be known and glorified, to spend oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love him."

Before the Mass, video footage of the pope's first hours in office circulated online. A video released by the Vatican showed him greeting the cardinals who elected him, praying alone in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace and wearing black, not red, shoes.

After his election and presentation to the faithful May 8, a video posted online showed Pope Leo returning to the Vatican residence where he had briefly lived as a cardinal before entering the conclave that elected him pope.

Greeting people who lived in the building, he posed for selfies and gave his blessing.

A girl asked the new pope to bless and sign a book; with a smile he replied: "I need to practice the signature! That old one is no good anymore." And while signing, he asked, "Today is?" to a roar of laughs to those around him.

Pope Leo, in English, thanks cardinals for his election

Pope Leo XIV thanks the College of Cardinals for electing him as Successor of St. Peter.

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost. / Credit: Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

CNA Staff, May 8, 2025 / 15:52 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, May 8 — the first pope from the United States. 

Smiling and waving while wearing more traditional papal garb than his predecessor — and appearing to hold back tears at certain points — Leo blessed the cheering masses assembled in St. Peter’s Square, proclaiming in confident Italian: “Peace be with you all!”

An Augustinian and a canon lawyer, Prevost spent over a decade ministering in South America before being called back to the U.S. to head the Midwest Augustinians and was later elected prior general of the Augustinian order, serving in that role for a dozen years. He later returned to South America after Pope Francis in 2014 appointed him bishop in Chiclayo, Peru. Francis later called him to Rome in 2023 to head the highly influential Dicastery for Bishops. 

Prevost, 69, was born on Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago. He is of Italian, French, and Spanish descent. He studied at an Augustinian minor seminary in Michigan and later earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. 

He officially entered the Order of St. Augustine in 1978, making his solemn vows in 1981. He was ordained to the priesthood in June 1982 after studying theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago. 

After being ordained, he earned a doctorate in canon law from Rome’s Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas (also known as the Angelicum) in 1987. 

Prevost returned to Chicago for a short time in 1987, serving as pastor for vocations and director of missions for the Midwest Augustinians (Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel). He was then sent to Peru, where he served the Augustinians in various capacities including as a regional ecclesiastical judge and teacher of canon law in the diocesan seminary for Trujillo, Peru, for 10 years.

After being elected the head of the Midwest Augustinians, Prevost returned to the U.S. in 1999. He was elected prior general of the Augustinians in 2001 and then reelected in 2007, serving as head of the order until 2013.

Pope Francis appointed Prevost as apostolic administrator of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014, and he was ordained titular bishop of Sufar that same year.

While serving the Church in Peru, Francis made Prevost a member of the Dicastery for the Clergy in 2019 and then a member of the Dicastery for Bishops in 2020. In 2023, Francis made Prevost prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. In that capacity, Prevost played a key role in the selection process for diocesan bishops around the world and in the investigation of allegations against bishops.

In 2023, Prevost spoke to Vatican News about what he considered to be the “portrait of a bishop.”

“We are often preoccupied with teaching doctrine, the way of living our faith, but we risk forgetting that our first task is to teach what it means to know Jesus Christ and to bear witness to our closeness to the Lord,” he told Vatican News.

“This comes first: to communicate the beauty of the faith, the beauty and joy of knowing Jesus,” he added. “It means that we ourselves are living it and sharing this experience.”

Pope Francis made him a cardinal in a Sept. 30, 2023, consistory.

Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims in St. Pete’s Square shortly after his election on Thursday, May 8, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, May 8, 2025 / 15:32 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV greeted the world for the first time on Thursday with the words “Peace be with you all.”

The 69-year-old new pope, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, was elected the first pope from the United States on Thursday. A native of Chicago, Leo spoke in Italian from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, addressing the hundreds of thousands of people waiting in the square and streets below.

“Peace be with you all. Dearest brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the risen Christ, the Good Shepherd, who has given his life for God’s flock. I too would like that this greeting of peace enters into your heart, reaching your families, and all people, wherever they are, to all peoples, to all the earth. Peace be with you,” Leo said in his opening lines.

The identity of the new pope was announced just over an hour after white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. The cardinal electors watched from balconies flanking the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica as Cardinal Dominique Mamberti declared in Latin: “Habemus papam!”

Minutes later, Pope Leo XIV appeared to enormous cheers from the excited crowd.

The peace of the risen Christ, he said, is a “disarming, humble, and persevering peace” that comes from God — a God who “loves us all unconditionally.”

He recalled his predecessor, the late Pope Francis, who blessed Rome on Easter Sunday just hours before his death. “Allow me,” Leo said, “to follow that same blessing.”

“God loves us, God loves all of us, and evil will not prevail. We are all in the hands of God. Therefore, without fear, united, hand in hand with God and among ourselves, let us go forward. We are disciples of Christ. Christ precedes us. The world needs his light. Humanity needs him like a bridge to be reached by God and his love,” Leo said.

The pope asked those present to help the Church to build bridges through dialogue and encounter, working for unity and peace. He thanked Pope Francis and the cardinals who chose him to be the successor of St. Peter, history’s first pope.

The pope added that he wants to “walk together … as a united Church, always searching for peace, justice, and trying to always work as men and women faithful to Jesus Christ, without fear to proclaim the Gospel, to be missionaries.”

Pointing out that he is a member of the Augustinian religious order, Leo paraphrased the words of his founder, St. Augustine, who once said in a sermon: “With you I am a Christian and for you I am a bishop.”

In a special greeting to the Catholic Church of Rome, of which he is bishop, Leo said: “We must learn together how to be a missionary Church, a Church that builds bridges, dialogue, always open to receive, like this square with its ‘arms’ open to all, everyone who sees our charity, our presence, dialogue, love.”

Breaking off from Italian into Spanish, the pope greeted the people of the Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, where he was bishop from 2015 until Pope Francis brought him to the Vatican as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in 2023.

Speaking again in Italian, the pope said the faithful want “a synodal Church, one that looks always for peace, for charity, and to be close to those who suffer.”

Recalling the day’s feast day of Our Lady of Pompei, Pope Leo invited those present to pray a Hail Mary with him “for this new mission, but for the whole Church, for peace in the world.”

After the prayer asking for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the new pope then bestowed his first apostolic blessing, “urbi et orbi,” on the city and the world.