In his first homily, the pope emphasizes ‘desperately needed’ missionary work.
Video: https://nyti.ms/4k0GekA
The American pontiff celebrated his first Mass as the leader of 1.4 billion Roman Catholics to an audience of cardinals at the Sistine Chapel.
In Pope Leo XIV’s first homily on Friday, he put himself squarely on the side of “ordinary people,” and against the rich and powerful — a not insignificant statement for the first pope from the world’s richest and most powerful country.
It also seemed that in a church divided between those who want to emphasize the defense of doctrine and those who want to prioritize missionary work, the Chicago-born pope defined himself, first and foremost, as a missionary, and in so doing made it clear he wanted a missionary church. This is what a lot of cardinals supportive of his predecessor, Pope Francis, were looking for going into this week’s conclave, and it seems they found it in Leo.
In his homily during a Mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, the pope invoked the story of Jesus, saying that while rich people dismissed him as an inconvenient fanatic, ordinary people found him “not a charlatan but an upright man, one who has courage, who speaks well and says the right things.”
But he noted that they, too, abandoned him when the going got tough. Even for Jesus’ first followers, he was “only a man,” the pope said, and so when he was crucified, they were disappointed and left him.
Leo argued that this was exactly what was going on today, with many spheres — read: mass media, pop culture, government elites, academia, Silicon Valley — perceiving Christianity as “absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent.”
He is a former leader of the international and intellectually rigorous order named for St. Augustine, the fourth-century bishop and writer whose vision of the centrality of faith redefined the church and Western culture by helping bury, and tar, the once influential Greek philosophy of Epicureanism. That worldview, which had a following in some elite ancient Roman circles, prioritized happiness through a moderate pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain.
The new pope seemed to echo Augustine when he lamented those “settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power or pleasure.”
By talking about all of this in his first homily, the new pope signaled that he would make spreading the Gospel into this enemy territory a priority of his pontificate, in strong continuity with Francis.
One part of the homily sounded like a mission statement: “These are contexts 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. A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society.”
He added, pointedly, that nominal believers occupy these settings too, people who treat Jesus as a superhero rather than someone who led by his actions, and whose actions true believers need to imitate. He said these Christians live as de facto atheists.
The Chicago-born pope went to Peru as a missionary, and his missionary ethos so impressed Francis, who empowered him and put him in a position to become pope. He ended by telling the cardinals that he, like Francis, saw himself as a simple missionary with the job of spreading the Gospel through his actions. Francis made a habit of excoriating cardinals for putting themselves above their flocks, for living big and forgetting what they were there for. Leo also reminded the cardinals arrayed in front of him, in less harsh but no less uncertain terms, that their job was to be simple missionaries, too.
To emphasize this, the pope spoke of an ancient saint who welcomed his coming martyrdom — being devoured by wild beasts in a Roman arena — because it would remove his body from the picture and let his missionary faith shine through.
“His words apply more generally to an indispensable commitment for all those in the church who exercise a ministry of authority,” Leo said. He argued that the cardinals’ duty was not to take center stage, but to “move aside” and “to make oneself small” so that the faith could grow and spread.
“I say this first of all to myself,” he added.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/05/09 ... onary-work
Christianity
Re: Christianity
Hail Mary, full of grace: Why popes and other Catholics pray to the Virgin Mary
Video: https://apnews.com/video/why-popes-and- ... 0082469735
BY GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO
Updated 4:30 AM MDT, May 17, 2025
Share
GENAZZANO, Italy (AP) — Pope Leo XIV closed his first public blessing as pontiff with a Hail Mary, after invoking the feast day of Our Lady of Pompei. On his first papal trip, he went to the Sanctuary of Our Mother of Good Counsel in the medieval village of Genazzano and on the drive back stopped to pray by Pope Francis’ tomb in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.
That’s just three of a myriad Virgin Marys around the world, whose veneration is central to Catholics from the pope to the ordinary faithful. Even many of the less-than-devout know what it means to throw a Hail Mary.
The month of May is dedicated to Marian celebrations, so here’s a look at the history and traditions about Mary and why praying to her means so much to so many.
One Mary, a myriad titles
According to the Gospel, Mary is the mother of Jesus — and the mystery of the incarnation of the son of God through her is central to Christian dogma.
The oldest title for Mary is precisely “mother of God,” or Theotokos in the original Greek. It was chosen after heated theological debate in the first centuries of Christianity.
St. Mary Major is the oldest still-standing sanctuary dedicated to that, said Giuseppe Falanga, professor of liturgy at Pontificia Universita della Santa Croce in Rome. It was built on one of Rome’s hills in the 5th century — according to tradition, because of the pope’s dream and an August snowfall there on what is now also celebrated as the day of Our Lady of the Snows.
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There are three major categories of titles for Mary — first, those related to dogma and major events in her life.
The Assumption on Aug. 15, for instance, celebrates Mary being taken body and soul into heaven. It’s marked by Masses and religious festivals but also the peak of summer holidays for faithful and atheists alike in countries such as Italy and Greece, where all but the most essential work grinds to a halt on that feast day.
Then there are titles related to apparitions. In December, millions gather in Mexico, and across the Americas, to celebrate the Virgin of Guadalupe who, according to church tradition, appeared to an Indigenous man in 1531. Millions more visit the sanctuaries in Fatima, Portugal, and in Lourdes, France, other sites of apparitions in the past few centuries.
And then there are titles based on what pilgrims and faithful want — from Good Counsel to protection (the many “Guard” Marys ) to Star of the Sea, invoked by seafarers.
“It’s almost like there’s a Mary for everything,” said Kayla Harris, professor and director of Marian Library at University of Dayton in Ohio.
It’s also why the rosary is one of the most widely used prayers — including publicly for the pope — and why popular devotions to the Virgin Mary, including processions and festivals, are so central to Christianity, Falanga said.
Different icons, common prayers
How Mary is represented, however, varies greatly across time and places, Harris added.
There are “Black” Virgin Marys — dark-skinned paintings and statues like Brazil’s much beloved Virgin of Aparecida. In rare icons, she’s represented pregnant or as an older woman.
She’s either portrayed alone or, most often, holding the baby Jesus, as in the Genazzano 15th century painting, a close-up of the two faces with Jesus’ fingers holding his mother’s neck. Mary looking at Jesus makes a theological point, too — inviting worshippers to fix their gaze on Christ, not her.
In fact, according to the Catechism, Catholics are to give Mary special veneration, but not worship her — something reserved for God alone, Falanga said.
Motherhood, prayers and the month of May
It’s that relatability as a mother figure that makes Mary so universally appealing as an intercessor before God, Harris said.
Since the 19th century, May has been devoted to the Virgin Mary — though already in Greek and Roman times, goddesses of fertility were celebrated in this month of springtime blooming, she added.
Mother’s Day is also celebrated in May in many countries, including Italy and the United States — and it coincided with Leo’s first public Sunday blessing at noon, a time for another traditional daily invocation to the Virgin Mary.
Two mothers who went to morning Mass on a recent weekday at the Genazzano chapel — where the Mary icon stands — said they pray their children, ranging in age from 18 to 24, will keep the faith.
“The Madonna has been holding my hand since I was a child,” said Anastasia Galizia, who grew up in the village and witnessed Leo’s visit. “I ask her how to love her son and I pray for conversion, for me, for my family and for the whole world.”
At the Basilica of St. Augustine in Rome, which is served by Augustinians — Leo’s religious order — there are two popular prayer spots for mothers. One is a sculpture known as the “Labor Madonna” where expecting mothers go; the other is a chapel with the relics of St. Monica, St. Augustine’s mother, who prayed incessantly for his conversion.
“We welcome a lot of moms, who come to pray to St. Monica for their children, who have walked away from the faith, and they ask the Lord for the gift to touch their hearts,” said the Rev. Pasquale Cormio, the basilica’s rector.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
https://apnews.com/article/pope-leo-xiv ... 4af85c1b6c
Video: https://apnews.com/video/why-popes-and- ... 0082469735
BY GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO
Updated 4:30 AM MDT, May 17, 2025
Share
GENAZZANO, Italy (AP) — Pope Leo XIV closed his first public blessing as pontiff with a Hail Mary, after invoking the feast day of Our Lady of Pompei. On his first papal trip, he went to the Sanctuary of Our Mother of Good Counsel in the medieval village of Genazzano and on the drive back stopped to pray by Pope Francis’ tomb in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.
That’s just three of a myriad Virgin Marys around the world, whose veneration is central to Catholics from the pope to the ordinary faithful. Even many of the less-than-devout know what it means to throw a Hail Mary.
The month of May is dedicated to Marian celebrations, so here’s a look at the history and traditions about Mary and why praying to her means so much to so many.
One Mary, a myriad titles
According to the Gospel, Mary is the mother of Jesus — and the mystery of the incarnation of the son of God through her is central to Christian dogma.
The oldest title for Mary is precisely “mother of God,” or Theotokos in the original Greek. It was chosen after heated theological debate in the first centuries of Christianity.
St. Mary Major is the oldest still-standing sanctuary dedicated to that, said Giuseppe Falanga, professor of liturgy at Pontificia Universita della Santa Croce in Rome. It was built on one of Rome’s hills in the 5th century — according to tradition, because of the pope’s dream and an August snowfall there on what is now also celebrated as the day of Our Lady of the Snows.
//RELATED STORIES
//What is the traditional Sunday blessing that popes deliver in St. Peter’s Square?https://apnews.com/article/pope-leo-sun ... 7496d708a5
//Pope Leo XIV is known as 'Father Bob' among fellow Augustinians. Who are they? https://apnews.com/article/pope-leo-xiv ... 2fbdad6046
//Faithful react to Pope Leo's first Sunday blessing in St. Peter's Square https://apnews.com/article/pope-leo-xiv ... 3521c0ae49
There are three major categories of titles for Mary — first, those related to dogma and major events in her life.
The Assumption on Aug. 15, for instance, celebrates Mary being taken body and soul into heaven. It’s marked by Masses and religious festivals but also the peak of summer holidays for faithful and atheists alike in countries such as Italy and Greece, where all but the most essential work grinds to a halt on that feast day.
Then there are titles related to apparitions. In December, millions gather in Mexico, and across the Americas, to celebrate the Virgin of Guadalupe who, according to church tradition, appeared to an Indigenous man in 1531. Millions more visit the sanctuaries in Fatima, Portugal, and in Lourdes, France, other sites of apparitions in the past few centuries.
And then there are titles based on what pilgrims and faithful want — from Good Counsel to protection (the many “Guard” Marys ) to Star of the Sea, invoked by seafarers.
“It’s almost like there’s a Mary for everything,” said Kayla Harris, professor and director of Marian Library at University of Dayton in Ohio.
It’s also why the rosary is one of the most widely used prayers — including publicly for the pope — and why popular devotions to the Virgin Mary, including processions and festivals, are so central to Christianity, Falanga said.
Different icons, common prayers
How Mary is represented, however, varies greatly across time and places, Harris added.
There are “Black” Virgin Marys — dark-skinned paintings and statues like Brazil’s much beloved Virgin of Aparecida. In rare icons, she’s represented pregnant or as an older woman.
She’s either portrayed alone or, most often, holding the baby Jesus, as in the Genazzano 15th century painting, a close-up of the two faces with Jesus’ fingers holding his mother’s neck. Mary looking at Jesus makes a theological point, too — inviting worshippers to fix their gaze on Christ, not her.
In fact, according to the Catechism, Catholics are to give Mary special veneration, but not worship her — something reserved for God alone, Falanga said.
Motherhood, prayers and the month of May
It’s that relatability as a mother figure that makes Mary so universally appealing as an intercessor before God, Harris said.
Since the 19th century, May has been devoted to the Virgin Mary — though already in Greek and Roman times, goddesses of fertility were celebrated in this month of springtime blooming, she added.
Mother’s Day is also celebrated in May in many countries, including Italy and the United States — and it coincided with Leo’s first public Sunday blessing at noon, a time for another traditional daily invocation to the Virgin Mary.
Two mothers who went to morning Mass on a recent weekday at the Genazzano chapel — where the Mary icon stands — said they pray their children, ranging in age from 18 to 24, will keep the faith.
“The Madonna has been holding my hand since I was a child,” said Anastasia Galizia, who grew up in the village and witnessed Leo’s visit. “I ask her how to love her son and I pray for conversion, for me, for my family and for the whole world.”
At the Basilica of St. Augustine in Rome, which is served by Augustinians — Leo’s religious order — there are two popular prayer spots for mothers. One is a sculpture known as the “Labor Madonna” where expecting mothers go; the other is a chapel with the relics of St. Monica, St. Augustine’s mother, who prayed incessantly for his conversion.
“We welcome a lot of moms, who come to pray to St. Monica for their children, who have walked away from the faith, and they ask the Lord for the gift to touch their hearts,” said the Rev. Pasquale Cormio, the basilica’s rector.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
https://apnews.com/article/pope-leo-xiv ... 4af85c1b6c