Pope Leo XIV discussed his mission as the new head of the Catholic Church during a Friday, May 9, service.
“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, as friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the good news to announce the Gospel,” the pope, 69, said in his sermon held at Italy’s Sistine Chapel, per the Associated Press.
Speaking in Italian, Leo also mentioned how Christianity is viewed across the globe with Jesus especially being “reduced to a 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,” Leo said. “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.”
Leo further used his speech to share his hopes for the papacy under his jurisdiction.
“God has entrusted this treasure to me so that, with his help, I may be its faithful administrator for the sake of the entire mystical Body of the Church,” he said, according to a Reuters translation. “He has done so in order that she may be ever more fully a city set on a hill, an ark of salvation sailing through the waters of history and a beacon that illumines the dark nights of this world.”
Leo was chosen as the new pontiff on Thursday, May 8, after a conclave of international cardinals voted on who should take Pope Francis’ position. (Francis died last month at the age of 88.)
Upon the conclave’s decision, Leo (born Robert Francis Prevost) adopted his papal nickname. He is the first American-born pope in the Church’s history, hailing from Chicago.
“Thank you to my Cardinal brothers who chose me to be the Successor of Peter and to walk together with you as a united Church searching all together for peace and justice, working together as women and men, faithful to Jesus Christ without fear, proclaiming Christ, to be missionaries, faithful to the gospel,” Leo said in a speech on Thursday, making his first remarks as the pope. “I am a son of Saint Augustine, an Augustinian. He said, ‘With you I am a Christian, for you a bishop.’ So, may we all walk together towards that homeland that God has prepared for us.”
