‘Deeply pained’: Pope’s heartfelt plea in first address
Hundreds of thousands poured into St Peter’s Square to hear Pope Leo XIV speak in his first prayer address since being appointed pontiff.
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Pope Leo XIV has used his first ever prayer address to call for the end to the war in regions including Ukraine, Gaza and the Indian/Pakistan border.
Addressing hundreds of thousands of people from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on Sunday (6pm Sunday AEST), he urged for the conflicts across the globe to end.
“In today’s dramatic context of a third world war fought piecemeal...I appeal to the powerful of the world by repeating these ever-relevant words: never again war.”
He weighed into the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and said: “I carry in my heart the suffering of the beloved Ukrainian people.
“Every effort be made to reach a true, just and lasting peace as soon as possible”.
“May all prisoners be freed, and may the children be returned to their families”.
Leo also spoke of his concerns with the Israel-Gaza conflict and said: “I am deeply pained by what is happening,” he said. “Let the fighting cease immediately, let humanitarian aid be provided to the exhausted civilian population, and may all hostages be released”.
At midday Sunday (8pm AEST) the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church walked onto the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica dressed in his white papal vestments and gave his address to the crowd that packed into St Peter’s Square and surrounding streets.
The 69-year-old pontiff received a huge applause as he greeted the crowd, many waving flags and holding rosary beads, as they waited for him to give his short prayer.
Some had waited hours on the overcast and mild Rome day and after Leo gave his address - which lasted about 15 minutes - he left the balcony and the bells of the Basilica rang out across Vatican City.
On the weekend the religious leader also made his first trip to a St. Mary Major to visit the tomb of the late Pope Francis who died on Easter Monday.
The pontiff, who was Cardinal Robert Prevost before being announced as pope last Friday (AEST), has had a hectic couple of days on the job with a packed schedule of religious services, diplomatic meetings and Holy Year events.
After presiding over a mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on Friday, he met with cardinals on Saturday.
His formal inauguration mass will be held in St Peter’s Square on May 18, the Vatican has announced. Pope Leo is the first US pontiff in the 2000-year history of the Roman Catholic Church.
And while his first few days have been filled with prayers and worship, he has already made worldwide headlines for the wrong reasons.
He will face the international media on Monday for the first time amid claims he failed to properly handle sexual abuse allegations properly.
Advocacy group, The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a US-based network for survivors of institutional sexual abuse said shortly after he was revealed as the 267th pope that with it “comes a grave reckoning”.
SNAP filed a complaint against Leo (Robert Prevost) on March 25 to the Vatican’s then secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
On the group’s website it claims that the pontiff failed to act when a priest was accused of abusing minors.
“As provincial of the Augustinians, Pope Leo XIV allowed Father James Ray, a priest then accused of abusing minors whose ministry had been restricted since 1991, to reside at the Augustinians’ St John Stone Friary in Chicago in 2000, despite its proximity to a Catholic elementary school,” SNAP said.
“Victims have since claimed Prevost failed to open an investigation, sent inadequate information to Rome, and that the diocese allowed the priest to continue saying mass, attaching photos of the priest saying mass after their complaint to their letter”.
Published news reports claimed that the Vatican denied that Leo approved Ray to be moved to the Friary.
In a statement on SNAP’s website it asks Pope Leo: “You can end the abuse crisis — the only question is, will you?”
On Monday, The Vatican will hold a press conference at 10am (6pm AEST).
On Saturday, Leo gave his first address since being appointed as pontiff to the College of Cardinals and said that the church must “respond to a new industrial revolution and to the development of artificial intelligence”.
He also explained why he chose the name Leo.
“Pope Leo XIII, with the historic Encyclical Rerum novarum, addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution,” he said in his address.
“Today, the church offers to all her treasure of social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and the developments of artificial intelligence.”
“A name, then, not only rooted in tradition, but one that looks firmly ahead to the challenges of a rapidly changing world and the perennial call to protect those most vulnerable within it”.
While it’s not clear which world leaders will attend the inauguration, Buckingham Palace has confirmed King Charles will not be attending. The 76-year-old will instead be represented by Prince Edward the Duke Of Edinburgh.
It comes as His Majesty continues to recover from cancer. He did not attend Pope Francis’s funeral on April 26, but was represented by his son, the Prince of Wales.
‘Say no’: Pope Leo gives first address to thousands of media
The 69-year-old urged the media to “reject the paradigm of war” and to move away from the “stereotypes and cliches” of Christian life.
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