Pope Leo XIV celebrates first Mass after historic election as Pope Francis’ successor

VATICAN CITY AP Pope Leo XIV celebrates his first Mass on Friday after his historic vote as the first North American pope meeting with the cardinals who chose him to lead the Catholic Church and follow in Pope Francis social justice-minded footsteps Leo the Chicago-born Augustinian missionary Robert Prevost surprised the world Thursday when he emerged on the loggia of St Peter s Basilica as the th pontiff overcoming the traditional prohibition against a pope from the United States The -year-old wore the traditional red cape which Francis had eschewed on his voting in and trappings of the papacy suggesting a return to chosen degree of rule-following after Francis unorthodox pontificate But in naming himself Leo and referring to specific of Francis more social justice-minded priorities the new pope could also have craved to signal a strong line of continuity Brother Leo was the th century friar who was a great companion to St Francis of Assisi the late pope s namesake Together we must try to find out how to be a missionary church a church that builds bridges establishes dialogue that s reliably open to receive like on this piazza with open arms to be able to receive everybody that requirements our charity our presence dialogue and love Leo declared in near-perfect Italian in his first comments to the world Francis the first Latin American pope clearly had his eye on Prevost and in several solutions saw him as his heir apparent He sent Prevost who had spent years as a missionary in Peru to take over a complicated diocese there in Francis then brought Prevost to the Vatican in to head of the Vatican s powerful Dicastery for Bishops which vets bishop nominations around the world and is one of the majority of key jobs in church governance Earlier this year Francis elevated Prevost into the senior ranks of cardinals giving him prominence going into the conclave that insufficient other cardinals had There had long been a taboo on a U S pope given America s superpower status in the secular world But Prevost prevailed perhaps because he s also a Peruvian citizen and had lived for two decades in Peru first as a missionary and then as bishop As if to drive that home Leo spoke in Italian and Spanish from the loggia but not English Since arriving in Rome Prevost had kept a low general profile but was well-known to the men who count and respected by those who worked with him Significantly he presided over one of the majority of revolutionary reforms Francis made when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope In a interview with Vatican News the then-cardinal commented the women had enriched the process and reaffirmed the need for the laity to have a greater role in the church Even the bishops of Peru called him the saint the Saint of the North and he had time for everyone explained the Rev Alexander Lam an Augustinian friar from Peru who knows the new pope The crowd in St Peter s Square erupted in cheers Thursday when white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel shortly after p m on the second day of the conclave Waving flags from around the world tens of thousands of people were surprised an hour later when the senior cardinal deacon released the winner was Prevost U S President Donald Trump declared it was such an honor for our country for the new pope to be American The president added that we re a little bit surprised and we re happy Prevost has shared criticism of the Trump administration s migration policies In past social media posts Prevost shared articles criticizing Vice President JD Vance s justification of the administration s mass deportation plans An Augustinian pope The last pope to take the name Leo was Leo XIII an Italian who led the church from to That Leo softened the church s confrontational stance toward modernity especially science and politics and laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought His greater part famous encyclical Rerum Novarum of addressed workers rights and capitalism at the beginning of the industrial revolution and was highlighted by the Vatican in explaining the new pope s choice of name That Leo also had close ties to the Augustinian order He rebuilt an ancient Augustinian church and convent near his hometown of Carpineto outside Rome which is still in use by the new pope s order nowadays Vatican watchers disclosed Prevost s decision to name himself Leo was particularly major given the previous Leo s legacy of social justice and overhaul suggesting continuity with specific of Francis chief concerns Specifically Leo cited one of Francis key priorities of making the Catholic Church more attentive to lay people and inclusive a process known as synodality He is continuing a lot of Francis ministry revealed Natalia Imperatori-Lee the chair of religious studies at Manhattan University in the Bronx But she also revealed his referendum could send a message to the U S church which has been badly divided between conservatives and progressives with much of the right-wing opposition to Francis coming from there I think it is going to be exciting to see a different kind of American Catholicism in Rome Imperatori-Lee commented Leo noted in a interview with Vatican News that the polarization in the church was a wound that needed to be healed Divisions and polemics in the church do not help anything We bishops especially must accelerate this movement towards unity towards communion in the church he mentioned Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis communicated reporters he never thought he would see an American pope given the questions of how he would address dealing with a U S president especially someone like Trump And so I just never imagined that we would have an American pope and I have great confidence that Pope Leo will do a wonderful job of navigating that he commented Leo s brother John Prevost was so shocked that his brother had been elected pope that he missed several phone calls from Leo during an interview Thursday with The Associated Press He called the pope back and Leo narrated him he wasn t interested in being part of the interview John Prevost described his brother a fan of Wordle as being very concerned for the poor and those who don t have a voice He announced he expects him to be a second Pope Francis He s not going to be real far left and he s not going to be real far right he added Kind of right down the middle Looking ahead In his first hours as pope Leo went back to his old apartment in the Sant Uffizio Palace to see colleagues according to selfies posted to social media Vatican Media also presented him in the moments after his voting praying at a kneeler in the Pauline Chapel before emerging on the loggia Leo was expected to celebrate Mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on Friday deliver his first Sunday noon blessing from the loggia of St Peter s and attend an audience with the media on Monday in the Vatican auditorium Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni commented Beyond that he has a viable first foreign trip at the end of May Francis had been invited to trip to Turkey to commemorate the th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea a landmark event in Christian history and an vital moment in Catholic-Orthodox relations The new pope was formerly the prior general or leader of the Order of St Augustine which was formed in the th century as a region of mendicant friars dedicated to poverty facility and evangelization Vatican News disclosed Leo is the first Augustinian pope In Peru he is known as the saintly missionary who waded through mud after torrential rains flooded the region bringing help to needy people and as the bishop who spearheaded the lifesaving purchase of oxygen production plants during the COVID- pandemic He has no issue fixing a broken-down truck until it runs stated Janinna Sesa who met Prevost while she worked for the church s Caritas charity