Pope Leo celebrates his first Mass as pontiff in the Sistine Chapel

Pope Leo XIV said he hoped to lead a Roman Catholic Church "that will illuminate the dark nights of this world" when he celebrated his first Mass as pontiff under Michelangelo's ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.

The surprising election of Robert Francis Prevost, the first American pope, came after a conclave that lasted less than 26 hours, one of the shortest elections in the modern history of the Catholic Church.

During Friday's Mass with the cardinals, Lev began his homily in English, then switched to Italian. In the English passage he quoted words from the Psalms and said: "I will sing a new song to the Lord, for he has done wonders."

"Not just with me," he continued. "But with all of us, my brother cardinals, as we celebrate this morning, I invite you to recognize the wonders that the Lord has done, the blessings that the Lord continues to pour out on us all."

He switched to Italian and said he hoped the church could "to light up the dark nights of this world". He said he was going "faithful steward" Church and that it should be judged by the holiness of its members and not by the "the size of their buildings".

In a later passage on evangelism, Lev said that there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered "absurd, designed for the weak and unintelligent. An environment where other certainties are preferred, such as technology, money, success, power or pleasure".

He added: "These are environments where it is not easy to proclaim the Gospel and witness to its truth, where believers are ridiculed, opposed, despised, or at best tolerated and pitied. But these are precisely the places where our missionary work is desperately needed."

Sixty-nine-year-old Prevost, who was born in Chicago, has lived in Rome since 2023, when Francis appointed him head of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, which oversees the selection of new bishops from around the world.

Shortly after giving his first speech to the crowds gathered in St Peter's Square on Thursday evening, he paid a surprise visit to the Sant'Uffizio Palace, which was his home until the election. The pope stopped in the courtyard to pose for selfies with pilgrims, signed a child's autograph book and told them it was the first autograph he had signed as pope, the Italian press reported.

St Peter's Square was considerably less crowded on Friday than on previous days, but there was no shortage of pilgrims who followed the wooden crosses to visit the basilica. Few paid attention to the Mass, which was broadcast on large screens.

The Pope has inherited major challenges, from the Vatican's financial problems and the controversy over whether the Church should accept LGBTQ+ Catholics and divorcees, to whether women should play a greater role in the Church, and addressing the widespread problem of sexual abuse by clergy.

The Guardian/gnews.cz - GH