Pope Leo XIV calls for compassion for the world's poor, victims of tyranny and wars
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Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Toronto Sun
Pope Leo XIV gets rock star's welcome at Catholic influencer festival
Published Jul 29, 2025 • 3 minute read Pope Leo XIV greets faithful at the end of a mass celebrated by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle in St. Peter's Basilica on the occasion of the Youth Jubilee at the Vatican, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Photo by Gregorio Borgia / AP VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday received a rock star's welcome at the Vatican's festival of Catholic influencers — priests, nuns and ordinary faithful who use their social media presence to preach and teach the faith — as he urged them to ensure that human relations don't suffer with the spread of digital ecosystems and artificial intelligence. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account History's first American pope was mobbed by hundreds of influencers, their cellphones hoisted high to stream the encounter, when he arrived in St. Peter's Basilica after a special Mass. The pilgrims have descended on Rome for a special Holy Year celebration of so-called 'digital missionaries,' part of the Vatican's weeklong Jubilee for young people that culminates this weekend with a vigil and Mass in a vast field on Rome's outskirts. Leo thanked the young people for using their digital platforms to spread the faith, and he gamely posed for selfies. But he warned them about neglecting human relationships in their pursuit of clicks and followers, and cautioned them to not fall prey to fake news and the 'frivolity' of online encounters. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It is not simply a matter of generating content, but of creating an encounter between hearts,' Leo said in a speech that showed his ease switching from Italian to Spanish to English. 'Be agents of communion, capable of breaking down the logic of division and polarization, of individualism and egocentrism.' 'It is up to us — to each one of you — to ensure that this culture remains human,' he said. 'Our mission — your mission — is to nurture a culture of Christian humanism, and to do so together' in what he called the only networks that really matter: of friendship, love and the 'network of God.' Warnings against going off-message For the past two days, the Vatican's message to the young influencers has been one of thanks for their social media evangelizing, but also a warning to not allow their posting to go off-message or to neglect the human dimension of all encounters. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. For Leo, the issue is particularly heartfelt since he has said that addressing the threat to humanity posed by AI will be a priority of his pontificate. The Rev. David McCallum, an American Jesuit who heads a leadership development program and presented Monday, held periodic breaks with instructions for those in the audience to actually speak with the person next to them, for up to 10 minutes at a time. Cardinal Antonio Tagle, the head of the Vatican's evangelization office, urged the influencers to avoid anything that smacks of false advertising, coercion or brainwashing in their posting, or to use their platform to make money. He noted that he himself had been victim of a fake video advertising arthritis medicine. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Brothers and sisters, be discerning,' Tagle told the influencers in his homily at Tuesday's Mass. Pope Leo XIV greets faithful at the end of a mass celebrated by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle in St. Peter's Basilica on the occasion of the Youth Jubilee at the Vatican, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) A mini World Youth Day in Rome Tuesday began with groups of influencers and young pilgrims passing through the basilica's Holy Door, a rite of passage for the estimated 32 million people participating in the Vatican's 2025 Holy Year celebrations. This week, downtown Rome swarmed with energetic masses of teenage Catholic scouts, church and Catholic school groups. It all had the vibe of a scaled-down World Youth Day, the once-every-three-year Catholic Woodstock festival that was inaugurated by St. John Paul II. The most recent one in Lisbon, Portugal went viral thanks to the Rev. Guilherme Peixoto, a village priest in northern Portugal who also happens to be a DJ. He's in Rome this week, though it's not clear if he will reprise his now-famous set that woke the young people up before Pope Francis' final Mass in Lisbon. In it, he spliced into the set both St. John Paul II's exhortation to young people to 'be not afraid' and Francis' appeal in Lisbon that the church has room for everyone, 'todos, todos, todos.' MLB Sunshine Girls Opinion Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA
Toronto Star
14-07-2025
- Toronto Star
Pope Leo XIV calls for compassion for the world's poor, victims of tyranny and wars
Pope Leo XIV called on Sunday for compassion for the world's poor, victims of tyranny and wars, as he celebrated Mass in a parish church that has special spiritual ties to Leo's own Augustinian religious order.
Winnipeg Free Press
13-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Pope celebrates Mass in parish church with special ties to his Augustinian order
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP) — Pope Leo XIV called Sunday for 'merciful compassion' for the world's poor, victims of tyranny and wars, as he celebrated Mass in a parish church that has special spiritual ties to Leo's own Augustinian religious order. Leo is on vacation and resuming the papal tradition of summering at the the papal estate of Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, and celebrated Mass in the St. Thomas of Villanova church. St. Thomas of Villanova was a 16th-century Spanish teacher who was a local and regional superior of the Augustinian order, a mendicant order inspired by the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo. The saint is the patron and namesake of Leo's alma mater outside Philadelphia, Villanova University, and is known for his care for the poor and for having given away his wealth to those in need. In his homily, Leo offered a meditation on the biblical story of the Good Samaritan. Leo urged the faithful to be guided by empathy and be moved to act 'with the same merciful compassion as God.' 'How we look at others is what counts, because it shows what is in our hearts,' he said. 'We can look and walk by, or we can look and be moved with compassion.' That is especially true, he said, when looking at those who are 'stripped, robbed and pillaged, victims of tyrannical political systems, of an economy that forces them into poverty, and of wars that kill their dreams and their very lives.' From his very first words as pope, Leo has repeatedly emphasized his identity as an Augustinian and infused his homilies and speeches with teachings from the 5th century theologian. The Rev. Tadeusz Rozmus, the priest at the St. Thomass of Villanova parish, has said the return of a pope to Castel Gandolfo has filled the town with joy. In an interview ahead of Leo's arrival last week, Rozmus also noted the spiritual connection of history's first Augustinian pope to the town. 'St. Thomas of Villanova was an Augustinian saint, and so with him (Leo) returns to the beginning of his history, of his spirituality,' Rozmus said. Leo is taking an initial two weeks of vacation in Castel Gandolfo, though he has already interrupted it to receive Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a group of religious superiors and to celebrate a special Mass dedicated to caring for God's creation. Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. He will go back to the Vatican at the end of July and then return for another spell in August. ___ Winfield reported from Rome. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
