Closing summary
Pope Leo XIV’s formal inauguration Mass to mark his appointment will take place in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday 18 May, the Vatican said in a statement on Friday. The new pope, elected on Thursday, will hold his first general audience on 21 May.
Pope Leo XIV said he hoped to lead a Roman Catholic church “that illuminates the dark nights of this world” as he held his first mass as pontiff under Michelangelo’s ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.
During the Italian language section of his homily, Pope Leo XIV lamented that there are many places where “technology, money, success, power or pleasure” are valued over Christian faith, which he warned, in many places, was “considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent.”
After years of sympathetic and inclusive comments from Pope Francis, LGBTQ+ Catholics expressed concern on Thursday about hostile remarks made more than a decade ago by Father Robert Prevost, the new Pope Leo XIV, in which he condemned what he called the “homosexual lifestyle” and “the redefinition of marriage” as “at odds with the Gospel”.
In the UK, a spokesperson for King Charles has said that the king, who is head of the Church of England which broke with Rome in the 1530s, sent a private message of congratulations to newly elected Pope Leo XIV.
China has sent congratulations to newly elected Pope Leo XIV and hopes the Vatican under the new pontiff will continue dialogue with China “in a constructive spirit”, Reuters reports a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday at a regular press conference.
The election of Pope Leo XIV has been celebrated across Latin America, where many hailed him as the second pontiff from the region, after his Argentinian predecessor, Francis.
Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the choice of the name Leo was a “clear and deliberate” reference to the last pope named Leo. Leo XIII was elected in 1878 and was best known for his 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum, which outlined workers’ rights.
Many shared their excitement at having an American pope, and specifically a pope born in Chicago. City mayor Brandon Johnson tweeted “Everything dope, including the pope, comes from Chicago” and former US president Barack Obama congratulated the “fellow Chicagoan” on social media.
Updated
Pope Leo has confirmed all top Vatican officials in their current roles on a temporary basis, giving him time to decide before making definitive appointments, the Vatican said in a statement on Friday.
All Vatican senior officials, appointed for five-year terms, serve at the pleasure of the pope. A new pontiff usually rolls over existing mandates, at least initially, before deciding whether to change key positions.
