Pope Leo warns vs exploitation at inaugural mass

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV set the tone for his papacy Sunday with a call to stop exploiting nature and marginalizing the poor, before an audience including JD Vance and tens of thousands of pilgrims.

Ten days after Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost became the first US head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, he celebrated his inaugural mass in St. Peter’s Square. The 69-year-old began the day by making his debut tour in a popemobile, standing up in the custom-made white vehicle and smiling, waving and blessing the cheering crowds at the Vatican.

In front of dignitaries including US Vice President Vance and Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky, he then gave a homily calling for the Church to be a transformational force in a world of division and hatred.

“In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest,” he said. 

The new pontiff, who spent many years as a missionary in Peru, also warned against “closing ourselves off in our small groups.”

“We are called to offer God’s love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people,” he said.

Prevost, who was made cardinal only in 2023 and is unknown to many Catholics, has repeatedly emphasized the importance of peace and social justice in his first few days as pope.

He has made history as the first pontiff from the United States.  

Tagle presents Fisherman’s Ring

Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, the pro-prefect at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, presented the fisherman’s ring to Pope Leo XIV during the pontiff’s inauguration mass yesterday.

As he presented the ring, Tagle recited in Italian: “Most Holy Father, may Christ, the Son of the living God, the shepherd and guardian of our souls, who built his Church upon rock, grant you the ring, the seal of Peter the Fisherman, who put his hope in him on the sea of Galilee, and to whom the Lord Jesus entrusted the keys of the Kingdom of heaven.”  

“Today you succeed the Blessed Apostle Peter as the Bishop of this Church which presides over the unity of charity, as the Blessed Apostle Paul has taught. May the Spirit of charity, poured into our hearts, grant you the gentleness and strength to preserve, through your ministry, all those who believe in Christ in unity and fellowship,” he said.

The ring, which was historically used to seal papal documents, is now used ceremonially. The ring signifies that Pope Leo XIV is the successor of St. Peter, the first pope and a fisherman of Galilee chosen by Christ to lead his flock. The image of St. Peter is on the signet ring.

Pope’s Pinoy barber

An online article posted by Dominus Est reported that Leo had a Filipino Augustinian friar for a barber before he became pope.   

According to the article, Fray Efren Obja-an has dedicated almost two decades of his religious life serving the OSA’s headquarters in Rome. He would sometimes run errands such as buying food, cleaning, driving and even providing haircuts for the friars.

One of his clients was Prevost when he was still a priest and even after he became a cardinal. But they had minimal conversation whenever he would cut Prevost’s hair. “I don’t talk that much. I simply do the things that I like to do,” Obja-an was quoted as saying.  

As prior general of the Augustinians, Prevost and Obja-an would sometimes play double tennis with two others.

When Prevost ended his term as Prior General in 2013, he left his tennis racket to Obja-an for safekeeping. Obja-an returned the tennis racket when Prevost returned to Rome in 2023.