Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Midnight Mass as pontiff of the Catholic Church this Wednesday (24).
A, one of the most important in the religious calendar of the Vaticanmarked the presence of more than 6 thousand faithful in Praça São Pedro.
Leo XIV, who made God a central theme of the first months of his papacy, said that God is present in every human being. “On Earth, there is no place for God if there is no place for the human person”, said opWhat. “To reject one is to reject the other,” he added.
O papa quoted a phrase from the deceased papa Benedict XVI lamenting that the world does not care about children, the poor or foreigners.
“While a distorted economy leads us to treat human beings as mere commodities, God becomes like us, revealing the infinite dignity of each person,” he said.
In his message to the faithful, Leão highlighted that he keeps less fortunate people in his prayers during this Christmas period.
The pope also emphasized the importance of preserving hope for better days, even in the face of those currently afflicting different regions of the world.
Midnight Mass, traditionally celebrated at midnight in Catholic churches around the world, has undergone time changes at the Vatican over the years. During the pontificate of Benedict XVI, the celebration was brought forward to 10pm, Rome time.
In the last years of Francis’ papacy, the ceremony began even earlier, at 7:30 pm.
In his first Christmas at the head of the Catholic Church, Leo XIV chose to resume the time established by his predecessor Benedict XVI, holding the celebration at 10 pm local time in Rome.
