Pope Leo XIV marked his first full day as head of the Roman Catholic Church with a solemn Mass in the Sistine Chapel on Friday, just one day after his historic election as the first American pope.
Celebrating alongside the cardinals who elected him, Pope Leo delivered a bilingual homily in English and Italian, calling on the Church to serve as a beacon of hope and faith. “God has called me by your election to succeed the Prince of the Apostles,” he said, “and has entrusted this treasure to me... so that she may be ever more fully a city set on a hill, an ark of salvation... and a beacon that illumines the dark nights of this world.”
After the Mass, Pope Leo shared lunch with the College of Cardinals before they returned to their dioceses around the globe.
Looking ahead, the pope will meet again with the cardinals on Saturday, May 10. On Sunday, May 11, he is expected to lead his first Angelus prayer from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, marking another key moment in the early days of his papacy.
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