Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in Ukraine and Gaza, and offers a Happy Mother’s Day

VATICAN CITY AP Pope Leo XIV called for a genuine and just peace in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in his first Sunday noon blessing as pontiff that featured specific symbolic gestures suggesting a message of unity in a polarized Catholic Church I too address the world s great powers by repeating the ever-present call never again war Leo noted from the loggia of St Peter s Basilica to an estimated people below It was the first time that Leo had returned to the loggia since he first appeared to the world on Thursday evening following his remarkable balloting as pope the first from the United States Then too he delivered a message of peace Leo was picking up the papal tradition of offering a Sunday blessing at noon but with selected twists Whereas his predecessors delivered the greeting from the studio window of the Apostolic Palace off to the side of the piazza Leo went to the very center of the square and the heart of the church He also offered a novelty by chanting the Regina Caeli prayer a Latin prayer commented during the Easter season which newest popes would usually just recite Traditionalists and conservatives multiple of whom felt alienated by Pope Francis reforms and loose liturgical style have been looking for gestures hinting at Leo s priorities Specific have expressed cautious optimism at the very least with a return to a traditional style that Leo exhibited on Thursday night when he wore the formal red cape of the papacy that Francis had eschewed On hand in the square on Sunday for Leo s first noon prayer were two of Europe s more firebrand conservatives France s Marine Le Pen and Italy s Matteo Salvini The Italian minister has highlighted his Catholic faith in his political messaging On Sunday Leo wore the simple white cassock of the papacy and had reverted back to wearing his silver pectoral cross He had worn a more ornate one that contains the relics of St Augustine and his mother St Monica on Thursday night that had been given to him by his Augustinian religious order Beloved Ukrainian people Leo quoted Pope Francis in denouncing the number of conflicts ravaging the globe in current times saying it was a third world war in pieces I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people he stated Let everything practicable be done to achieve genuine just and lasting peace as soon as practicable He called for the release of war prisoners and the return of Ukrainian children to their families and welcomed the ceasefire between India and Pakistan He also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for humanitarian relief to be provided to the exhausted civilian population and all hostages be freed Leo also noted that Sunday was Mother s Day in a large number of countries and wished all mothers including those in heaven a Happy Mother s Day The crowd filled with marching bands in town for a special Jubilee weekend erupted in cheers and music as the bells of St Peter s Basilica tolled Angela Gentile of Bari arrived in the square three hours early to be in place Nonplussed that cardinals had elected yet another non-Italian pope she stated she was happy Leo came to the central balcony of the basilica so the crowd could see him face-to-face What s good for the Holy Spirit works for me she announced I have trust More than pilgrims from Houston Texas were in the square too waving three large American flags They were in Rome on a pre-planned Holy Year pilgrimage and commented they were proud to be part of this historic occasion Words cannot express my admiration and gratitude to God noted the Rev Dominic Nguyen who led the Vietnamese American group He revealed he hoped the pope would be happy to see the Stars and Stripes but also Peruvian flags and all other countries showing the universality of the church A Mass in the grottoes and unsealing the apartment Also Sunday Leo celebrated a private Mass near the tomb of St Peter and prayed at the tombs of several past popes in the grottoes underneath the basilica Vatican Media filmed him praying before a mix of more progressive and tradition-minded popes Pope Paul VI who closed out the modernizing reforms of the s Second Vatican Council and Popes Pius XII and Benedict XVI on the more conservative end of the spectrum He celebrated the Mass with the head of his Augustinian order and his brother John in the pews In his homily he recalled that Sunday was also the day that the Catholic Church celebrates religious vocations and noted that the issue of declining vocations had been raised by cardinals in their pre-conclave discussions before his balloting Leo reported priests can encourage more vocations by offering a good example living the satisfaction of the Gospel not discouraging others but rather looking for solutions to encourage young people to hear the voice of the Lord and to follow it and to serve in the church Leo also attended the official unsealing of the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace which were sealed after Pope Francis April death It is unclear if Leo will move into the apartments or just use them for formal audiences as Francis did Leo has slept in his old apartment in a Vatican palazzo since his referendum The -year-old Chicago-born missionary was elected th pope on Thursday He has a busy week of audiences before his formal installation Mass next Sunday Leo the former Robert Prevost spent most of of his priestly life as a missionary then bishop in Peru an experience he recalled on Thursday night in offering a special greeting to his former diocese in Chiclayo in Spanish Bertha Santander of Peru had come five hours early on Sunday to unfurl her huge Peruvian flag in the piazza recalling the emotion of that night when the piazza erupted in cheers as Leo first appeared It s such happiness she disclosed Already when I heard the last name I started crying and when he addressed a greeting in Spanish I was a sea of tears she noted Associated Press religion coverage receives patronage through the 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