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.
Vatican
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.
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.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said he hopes Pope Leo XIV will “be a dear brother and collaborator … for the rapprochement of our churches, for the unity of the whole Christian family, and for the benefit of all of humankind.”
Pope Leo XIV asked journalists to be peacemakers by shunning prejudice and anger in their reporting, and he called for the release of journalists imprisoned for their work.
Less than 48 hours after being elected, Pope Leo XIV got in the front seat of a minivan and traveled 40 miles southeast from the Vatican to pray at a Marian shrine cared for by his Augustinian confreres.
Full text of the first public homily of Pope Leo XIV, given at a Mass for the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel May 9, 2025.
Where Christians are “mocked, opposed, despised, or at best tolerated and pitied” is where the Catholic Church’s “missionary outreach is most desperately needed,” Pope Leo XIV said in his first homily as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.