Pope Leo XIV presides over mass in Sistine Chapel for first time

Wearing white vestments, new pontiff blesses cardinals on his first full day as leader of the Catholic Church

Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first mass as head of the Catholic Church at a private gathering in the Sistine Chapel with the cardinals who elected him to succeed Pope Francis.

Wearing white vestments, Leo blessed the cardinals on Friday as he approached the altar and Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment” behind it.

It was in the same frescoed chapel that Leo, the Chicago-born missionary Robert Prevost, was elected on Thursday afternoon as the 267th pope and the first from the United States.

Earlier this year, Pope Francis, who died last month aged 88 after a 12-year papacy, elevated Prevost to the senior rank of cardinals.

Cardinals listen to Pope Leo XIV deliver his first mass as pontiff. Vatican Media

In his first hours as pope, Leo went back to his old apartment in the Sant'Uffizio Palace to see colleagues, according to images posted to social media. Vatican Media also showed him in the moments after his election praying at a kneeler in the Pauline Chapel before emerging on the loggia.

In his homily at Friday's mass, he urged the Catholic Church to "desperately" counter a lack of faith.

He warned that in today's world there are places or situations where "it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied".

"Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed.”

The former missionary deplored "settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent" and, in an echo of his predecessor Francis, said people were turning to "technology, money, success, power, or pleasure."

In an unscripted introduction to his homily in English, he also evoked a need to overcome divisions within the Church, telling his fellow cardinals: "I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me".

He is due to 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 said.

Beyond that, he has a possible first foreign trip at the end of May. Francis had been invited to travel to Turkey to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, a landmark event in Christian history and an important moment in Catholic-Orthodox relations.

Pope Leo XIV elected: Cardinal Robert Prevost becomes first US pontiff

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Britain's King Charles III has joined world and religious leaders in congratulating the new pope on his first full day as leader of the Catholic Church.

Buckingham Palace said the king sent a private message to Pope Leo XIV, congratulating him on his election.

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  Then bishop Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, during a visit to Chulucanas, Peru, in 2024. AFP

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  Undated picture of Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV. Reuters

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  Undated picture of Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, with late former Pope John Paul II. Reuters

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  Undated picture of Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, with late former Pope Benedict XVI. Reuters

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  Pope Leo XIV, then Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo Robert Prevost, attends a Corpus Christi celebration at a stadium in Chiclayo, Peru, in 2015. AP

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  Pope Leo XIV, then Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo Robert Prevost, preaches during a Corpus Christi celebration in a stadium in Chiclayo, Peru, in 2015. AP

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  Pope Francis blesses Cardinal Robert Prevost during a consistory ceremony to elevate Roman Catholic prelates to the rank of cardinal, in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican, in 2023. Reuters

President Sheikh Mohamed wished Pope Leo success in “continuing to promote mutual understanding, peace and harmony throughout the world”, as congratulations poured in from leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and Russia's President Vladimir Putin.