Today, “there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent, settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power or pleasure,” the new pope told cardinals May 9 during Mass in the Sistine Chapel.

“This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the savior,” he said.

The day after his election, the new pope returned to the chapel where his fellow 132 cardinals elected him pope — the first U.S. citizen, first Peruvian citizen, first Augustinian friar and likely the first Chicago White Sox fan to become pope — to celebrate his first Mass with the College of Cardinals.

Wearing black shoes instead of the traditional red associated with the papacy and walking into the Sistine Chapel carrying Pope Benedict XIV’s papal ferula, or staff, the pope processed into the chapel.

After two women read the Mass readings in English and Spanish — a possible nod to the new pope’s U.S. and Peruvian background — he greeted the cardinals in English, marking his first public use of the language.

“Through the ministry of Peter, you have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission,” he said, “and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me as we continue as a church, as a community of friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the good news, to announce the Gospel.”

The Mass, largely in Latin, was celebrated at a portable altar brought into the Sistine Chapel, as opposed to the fixed altar which requires the celebrant to face East, away from the congregation.

In his homily, spoken in Italian, Pope Leo said God had called him to be a “faithful administrator” of the church so that she may be “a beacon that illumines the dark nights of this world.”

“And this, not so much through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings, like the monuments among which we find ourselves, but rather through the holiness of her members,” he said, standing before Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel.

Reflecting on Jesus’ question to the apostle Peter in St. Matthew’s Gospel — “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” — Pope Leo said one might find two possible responses: the world’s, which considers Jesus “a completely insignificant person” who becomes “irksome because of his demands for honesty and his stern moral requirements,” and that of ordinary people, who see him as an “upright man, one who has courage, who speaks well and says the right things.”

“Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent,” he said. In these settings, “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,” the pope said.

And in many settings in which Jesus is appreciated, the pope said, he can be “reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman.”

“This is true not only among nonbelievers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism,” he said. “Therefore, it is essential that we too repeat, with Peter: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'”

“I say this first of all to myself, as the successor of Peter, as I begin my mission as bishop of Rome,” he said. Referencing St. Ignatius of Antioch, he said the commitment for all who exercise authority in the church is “to move aside so that Christ may remain, to make oneself small so that he may be known and glorified, to spend oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love him.”

Before the Mass, video footage of the pope’s first hours in office circulated online. A video released by the Vatican showed him greeting the cardinals who elected him, praying alone in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace and wearing black, not red, shoes.

After his election and presentation to the faithful May 8, a video posted online showed Pope Leo returning to the Vatican residence where he had briefly lived as a cardinal before entering the conclave that elected him pope.

Greeting people who lived in the building, he posed for selfies and gave his blessing.

A girl asked the new pope to bless and sign a book; with a smile he replied: “I need to practice the signature! That old one is no good anymore.” And while signing, he asked, “Today is?” to a roar of laughs to those around him.

By Justin McLellan | Catholic News Service

He is the first North American to be elected pope and, before the conclave, was the U.S. cardinal most mentioned as a potential successor of St. Peter.

The white smoke poured from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel at 6:07 p.m. Rome time and a few minutes later the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica began to ring.

About 20 minutes later the Vatican police band and two dozen members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard marched into St. Peter’s Square. They soon were joined by the marching band of the Italian Carabinieri, a branch of military police, and by units of the other branches of the Italian military.

As soon as news began to spread, people from all over Rome ran to join the tens of thousands who were already in the square for the smoke watch. Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri was among them.

French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, protodeacon of the College of Cardinals, appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at 7:12 p.m. He told the crowd: “I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope (‘Habemus papam’),” saying the cardinal’s name in Latin and announcing the name by which he will be called.

Cardinals over the age of 80, who were not eligible to enter the conclave, joined the crowd in the square. Among them were Cardinals Seán P. O’Malley, the retired archbishop of Boston; Donald W. Wuerl, the retired archbishop of Washington; and Marc Ouellet, retired prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

A longtime missionary in Peru, the 69-year-old pope holds both U.S. and Peruvian citizenship.

La Repubblica, the major Italian daily, described him April 25 as “cosmopolitan and shy,” but also said he was “appreciated by conservatives and progressives. He has global visibility in a conclave in which few (cardinals) know each other.”

That visibility comes from the fact that as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops for the past two years, he was instrumental in helping Pope Francis choose bishops for many Latin-rite dioceses, he met hundreds of bishops during their “ad limina” visits to Rome and was called to assist the world’s Latin-rite bishops “in all matters concerning the correct and fruitful exercise of the pastoral office entrusted to them.”

The new pope was serving as bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, when Pope Francis called him to the Vatican in January 2023.

During a talk at St. Jude Parish in Chicago in August, the then-cardinal said Pope Francis nominated him “specifically because he did not want someone from the Roman Curia to take on this role. He wanted a missionary; he wanted someone from outside; he wanted someone who would come in with a different perspective.”

In a March 2024 interview with Catholic News Service, he said Pope Francis’ decision in 2022 to name three women as full members of the dicastery, giving them input on the selection of bishops “contributes significantly to the process of discernment in looking for who we hope are the best candidates to serve the church in episcopal ministry.”

To deter attitudes of clericalism among bishops, he said, “it’s important to find men who are truly interested in serving, in preaching the Gospel, not just with eloquent words, but rather with the example and witness they give.”

In fact, the cardinal said, Pope Francis’ “most effective and important” bulwark against clericalism was his being “a pastor who preaches by gesture.”

In an interview in 2023 with Vatican News, then-Cardinal Prevost spoke about the essential leadership quality of a bishop.

“Pope Francis has spoken of four types of closeness: closeness to God, to brother bishops, to priests and to all God’s people,” he said. “One must not give in to the temptation to live isolated, separated in a palace, satisfied with a certain social level or a certain level within the church.”

“And we must not hide behind an idea of authority that no longer makes sense today,” he said. “The authority we have is to serve, to accompany priests, to be pastors and teachers.”

As prefect of the dicastery then-Cardinal Prevost also served as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, where nearly 40% of the world’s Catholics reside.

A Chicago native, he also served as prior general of the Augustinians and spent more than two decades serving in Peru, first as an Augustinian missionary and later as bishop of Chiclayo.

Soon after coming to Rome to head the dicastery, he told Vatican News that bishops have a special mission of promoting the unity of the church.

“The lack of unity is a wound that the church suffers, a very painful one,” he said in May 2023. “Divisions and polemics in the church do not help anything. We bishops especially must accelerate this movement toward unity, toward communion in the church.”

In September, a television program in Peru reported on the allegations of three women who said that then-Bishop Prevost failed to act against a priest who sexually abused them as minors. The diocese strongly denied the accusation, pointing out that he personally met with the victims in April 2022, removed the priest from his parish, suspended him from ministry and conducted a local investigation that was then forwarded to the Vatican. The Vatican said there was insufficient evidence to proceed, as did the local prosecutor’s office.

Pope Leo was born Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the Augustinian-run Villanova University in Pennsylvania and joined the order in 1977, making his solemn vows in 1981. He holds a degree in theology from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

He joined the Augustinian mission in Peru in 1985 and largely worked in the country until 1999 when he was elected head of the Augustinians’ Chicago-based province. From 2001 to 2013, he served as prior general of the worldwide order. In 2014, Pope Francis named him bishop of Chiclayo, in northern Peru, and the pope asked him also to be apostolic administrator of Callao, Peru, from April 2020 to May 2021.

The new pope speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese and can read Latin and German.

By Cindy Wooden | Catholic News Service

After celebrating Mass for the election of a pope, processing into the Sistine Chapel and swearing a solemn oath of perpetual secrecy on the conclave proceedings, the cardinal electors cast their first ballot in the conclave.

The ballot, however, failed to reach the two-thirds supermajority, or 89 votes, that is required for a new pope to be elected. With the largest number of cardinal electors ever to vote in a conclave, and therefore the most votes to count, the black smoke arrived two hours later than the expected 7 p.m. Rome time.

Only one ballot was cast on the first day of the conclave. On following days, up to four ballots are cast each day. If, after three days of voting, they have not elected anyone, the cardinals can take a maximum on one day for prayer and informal discussion.

Pope Benedict XIV was elected on the fourth ballot of the 2005 conclave and Pope Francis was elected on the fifth ballot of the conclave in 2013.

An estimated 30,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square the first evening of the conclave even though they did not expect to see white smoke emerging from a chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel, signaling that a pope had been elected.

Many were carrying flags — pilgrims waved the flags of the Philippines, Brazil, the United States and Nicaragua among others.

Maggie Popp from North Dakota, who was in St. Peter’s Square with her husband and two young children, told Catholic News Service that she planned to watch the smoke each night.

“We’re here as a family because it feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity,” she said. “We live here in Rome, so we figured it would be a great opportunity to bring our little boys to experience this, even if they won’t remember, and ultimately pray for whoever it is that we’re going to receive as a new Holy Father.”

Gabrielle Estrada from San Antonio, Texas, extended her trip through Europe to be in Rome for the conclave. “I grew up Catholic, so I remember watching the smoke on the TV growing up and thought it would be so cool to be here.”

As a young adult, she said, “I’m curious to see how he is going to incorporate young adults.”

Often, she said, “this is the time that people stray away from her faith, and I would love to see him put emphasis on that age group and get us excited about the history of our faith and everything that comes with it.”

“Rome, right now, is the center of the universe,” said Father Anthony Saiki, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, while gesturing at the throngs of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “In this moment, the church is incredibly united.”

“If anybody doubts the relevance of the faith, if anybody doubts the relevance of the Catholic Church,” he told CNS, “all eyes are on the church right now, all eyes are looking for the next successor of Peter, so it’s a moment of hope, it’s a moment of excitement and joy.”

By Justin McLellan | Catholic News Service

“The communion that the Holy Spirit builds in the community of believers is not the result of a flat and rigid uniformity. On the contrary, as the Apostle Paul describes using the metaphor of the body, the unity and communion that the church is called to live are a unity in plurality and a communion in diversity,” said Benedictine Abbot Donato Ogliari.

The abbot of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome was invited by the cardinals to offer a spiritual meditation April 29 at their general congregation meeting before the conclave begins May 7.

The rules for preparing a conclave require the cardinals to invite a cleric known for his “sound doctrine, wisdom and moral authority” to offer the meditation “on the problems facing the church at the time and on the need for careful discernment in choosing the new pope.”

“Communion always remains one of the great challenges of the church, today as yesterday,” the abbot told the cardinals. The challenge of building that kind of unity within the church and promoting it in the world must take place “if we want to be faithful to God’s plan and respond to the profound expectations of the world,” he said, quoting St. John Paul II.

The 2021-2024 process of the Synod of Bishops on synodality, a process many of the cardinals participated in, was a constructive step in that direction, Abbot Ogliari said.

Just over half of the cardinals who are eligible to enter the Sistine Chapel — 68 of the 135 electors — attended the October 2023 and October 2024 assemblies of the synod.

While there were “some perplexities” about the synod process and some issues that were set aside for deeper study, the abbot said, the synod “has produced flames of participation and renewal in every corner of the world.”

“I believe this is a clear sign of the times, an action of the Spirit that invites us to promote, first of all, a fruitful connection” between the hierarchy and the laity “so that every baptized person can make his or her own contribution to the building of a church-koinonia” or church as communion.

A synodal church, he said, promotes an outreach and openness that allows the church to be less focused on its own affairs and more open to sharing the Gospel with the world.

A synodal church is needed, he said, in order for it to be, “according to a beautiful expression attributed to St. John XXIII, the ‘village fountain,’ the place where all people of goodwill can find, if not a rootedness in faith, at least a living and fresh word that gives them meaning and illuminates their path.”

Abbot Ogliari told the cardinals it is obvious that today “the ecclesiology of communion and the sense of an ecclesial ‘we’ are being challenged.”

“A prevailing individualism has permeated almost all the spaces of daily life, in which times and activities revolve mostly around the ‘I,’ with an inevitable depletion of meaningful interpersonal relationships,” he said.

“This also has had an impact on the life of the church,” the abbot said, which is precisely why “deepening the synodal process or journey — which aims to revitalize communion and participation within the body ecclesial body — can make the very mission of the church more effective in the various spheres of society, thanks to the virtuous circle that is created between communion, participation and mission.”

Abbot Ogliari prayed that the cardinals would “let Christ be the north star and the compass of your expectations, your meetings, your dialogue and of the choices you are called to make.”

He also prayed their decisions would be based on a desire to ensure that the church is truly built on and rooted in Christ, he said.

“The church rooted in Christ,” he said, “is a church that is open, courageous and prophetic, abhors violent words and gestures, knows how to be a voice for the voiceless and, if necessary, also knows how to sing from a different hymn sheet while consistently pointing out the paths of justice, fraternity and peace.”

“The church rooted in Christ is a church that is a teacher of fraternity, taught with words and gestures marked by mutual respect, dialogue, the culture of encounter and the building of bridges and not walls, as Pope Francis always invited us to do,” he said.

“The church rooted in Christ,” the abbot said, “is a church that shuns self-referentiality and that knows how to go beyond its own fences while also reaching out to those brothers and sisters in humanity who are not part of it and who experience the meaninglessness of life or are marked by the stigma of marginalization and exclusion.”

Abbot Ogliari told the cardinals he liked to think of the Sistine Chapel where they will gather May 7 as the New Testament “upper room” where the disciples awaited the outpouring of the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ resurrection.

“Even if the location of the conclave — as the etymology of the word itself says — is a place locked with a key, it actually will be wide open to the whole world if there prevails the freedom of the Spirit which, when it touches hearts and minds, rejuvenates, purifies and recreates.”

By Cindy Wooden | Catholic News Service

Black smoke indicates they have cast their votes without anyone garnering the necessary two-thirds majority, while white smoke confirms that the Catholic Church has a new pope.

The best time to be in St. Peter’s Square to see the smoke is just after 7 p.m. the first day of the conclave, May 7; and on the following days at 10:30 a.m. and noon, and again at 5:30 p.m. and just after 7 p.m.

Predicting when the smoke will rise from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel is not an exact science. The time needed for the cardinals’ prayers, discussions and vote counting can vary.

The rules for a conclave are contained in the apostolic constitution, “Universi Dominici Gregis” (“Shepherd of the Lord’s Whole Flock”), which was issued by St. John Paul II in 1996 and amended by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 and again in 2013.

After the cardinals process into the Sistine Chapel to start the conclave and take their oaths of secrecy, the papal master of liturgical ceremonies proclaims “extra omnes” (“everyone out”), and the cardinals listen to 90-year-old Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, who they chose to offer a meditation “concerning the grave duty incumbent on them and thus on the need to act with right intention for the good of the Universal Church.”

After that, there are prayers and an explanation of the rules for the election of a pope.

Then, the cardinals decide whether they want to cast their first ballots that same evening. The cardinals chose to have a first ballot in the evening during the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict and the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis.

The cardinals’ ballots, mixed with a chemical coloring, are burned in a stove in the Sistine Chapel.

In 2005 the black smoke from the first ballot was seen at 8:05 p.m. In 2013, black smoke from the first ballot was spotted at 7:41 p.m.

On the second day of the conclave and moving forward, there can be four rounds of voting each day, but only two smoke signals. That is because if the first ballot of the morning or of the afternoon session does not result in an election, a second vote begins immediately, and the two ballots are burned together.

During the conclave that elected Pope Francis, the set schedule called for the cardinals to celebrate Mass each morning at 8:15 a.m. in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace and then go into the Sistine Chapel at 9:30 a.m. After a brief prayer, the first ballot of the day was to be cast, meaning that if a pope were elected the smoke would be seen at about 10:30 a.m. If no candidate received the required two-thirds of the votes, the cardinals would vote again and the two ballots would be burned at about noon, before the cardinals were to return to the Domus Sanctae Marthae for lunch and an afternoon break.

If this conclave follows the schedule set in 2013, the cardinals would return to the Sistine Chapel at 4 p.m. and continue voting. If someone were to be elected on the first afternoon ballot, the smoke would be visible at about 5:30 p.m. If no one were elected, the smoke from evening ballots would come shortly before the cardinals were to return to the Domus Sanctae Marthae at about 7:30 p.m. for dinner and to sleep.

By Cindy Wooden | Catholic News Service

The deceased pope’s body, which was taken to the chapel of his residence late April 21, the day of his death, will be carried into St. Peter’s Basilica for public viewing and prayer early April 23.

The public viewing was scheduled to end late April 25 with another prayer service to close the coffin.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said the Mass originally scheduled for the Jubilee for Adolescents April 27 would be one of the eight memorial Masses that follow the funeral of the pope. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was secretary of state under Pope Francis, will preside.

The rites and rituals for dressing the body, moving it to St. Peter’s Basilica and celebrating the funeral are published in the “Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis” (“Funeral Rites of the Roman Pontiff”).

The rites originally were approved by St. John Paul II in 1998 but were released only when he died in 2005. Modified versions of the rites were used after Pope Benedict XVI died Dec. 31, 2022, and Pope Francis revised and simplified them in 2024.

U.S. Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, the chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, presided over a prayer service for the formal verification of the pope’s death April 21 in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis celebrated an early morning Mass most days before his final illness.

Cardinal Farrell will lead the prayerful procession to take the pope’s body, already in its coffin, from the chapel, into St. Peter’s Square and then into the basilica.

According to the book of rites, he will say, “Dearest brothers and sisters, with great emotion we accompany the mortal remains of our Pope Francis into the Vatican basilica where he often exercised his ministry as the bishop of the church that is in Rome and as pastor of the universal church.”

By Cindy Wooden | CNS