Pope Leo XIV Leads First Mass

Pope Leo XIV/DOK PHOTO via Instagram @vaticannews

JAKARTA - Pope Leo XIV presided over his first mass as Pope on Friday, a day after being elected supreme leader of the Catholic Church through a conclave of papality.

The 69-year-old whale celebrates mass at the Sistina Chapel, Vatican, together in cardinals of both 133 electoral cardinals who participate in conclaves and cardinals over the age of 80 and are not eligible to take part in the vote.

In his homily, Leo XIV lamented the fact that faith in God is considered "absurd" in many situations.

"Even now there are many situations where Christian faith is considered unreasonable, for people who are weak and not intelligent," said the Pope, a United States-Peru citizen, as reported by ANTARA from ANSA, Friday, May 9.

"The situation where other guarantees, such as technology, money, success, power, pleasure, are prioritized. This is an environment where it is not easy to testify and explain the Bible and where people believe they are ridiculed, insulted, insulted, or, at most banned, tolerated and pitied," he said.

"However, precisely for this reason, this is where a mission is needed, because lack of faith often brings and tragedy such as loss of meaning of life, forgotten for mercy, violation of personal dignity in its most dramatic form, family crisis, and many other wounds suffered by our society," Pope Leo XIV said.

On Thursday (8/5), Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church, as well as the Head of the Holy See of the Vatican and the Bishop of Rome.

Coming from Chicago, USA and a long time on duty in Peru, he chose Leo XIV's name for his papal period.

He is the first Pope from the US as well as the first Pope of the Agustinian Order (OSA).

Previously he served as an effect (head) of Dikasteri for Bishops, who is a department in the Roman quotient tasked with selecting, appointing, and supervising Catholic bishops.

Prevost was sworn in as cardinal by the late Pope Francis in September 2023.

He is considered to be continuing the reform initiated by Fransiskus for the Catholic Church.