Church must bring light to world’s ‘dark nights’: Pope Leo at first mass | Religion News

The new head of the Catholic Church will be formally installed as pope at a mass on May 18, the Vatican says.

Pope Leo XIV has promised to make the Catholic Church a balm for the world’s “dark nights”, as he celebrated his first mass as pontiff less than 24 hours after being elected.

Sixty-nine-year-old Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost and the first American pope, delivered the Mass on Friday, flanked by cardinals in the Vatican City’s Sistine Chapel.

The new head of the…