The Gospel parable of the “wasteful sower” who casts seeds on fertile soil as well as on a rocky path “is an image of the way God loves us,” Pope Leo XIV told visitors and pilgrims at his first weekly general audience.
Pope Leo XIV
God’s love, mercy, and goodness lie at the foundation of every vocation, including that of the pope, Pope Leo XIV said.
As the Holy Father stepped onto the central loggia above St. Peter’s Square on May 8, I was overcome with emotion and pride, swept up in the historical significance of the moment. Like many around the world, I was intrigued — and excited — by his decision to take the name Leo XIV.
During a special audience with religious leaders who came to Rome for the inauguration of his papal ministry, Pope Leo XIV vowed to continue working toward Christian unity and promoting dialogue among all religions.
Launching his papacy with a call for reconciliation and communion, Pope Leo XIV formally began his ministry as the successor of St. Peter by calling for “a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.”
The Catholic Church wants to reach out and embrace all people who need and yearn for truth, justice, and peace, Pope Leo XIV said in his first meeting with the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See.
The church building at Christ Our Savior Parish in the suburb of South Holland houses the tabernacle that used to be part of the now dilapidated St. Mary of the Assumption at the very southern edge of Chicago.
Teaching should be lived as ministry and mission, Pope Leo XIV told the Brothers of the Christian Schools, also known as the De La Salle Brothers or the Christian Brothers.
Cardinal Michael Czerny said that when Cardinal Robert F. Prevost was elected pope and chose the name Leo XIV, “I rejoiced; I really rejoiced.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Pope Leo XIV for his support of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, and he invited the newly-elected pontiff to visit the war-torn nation.