Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff to take up the highest seat in the Catholic Church, returned to the Sistine Chapel on Friday to deliver his first mass in an address to the more than 1.4 billion Catholics he now leads. 

The pontiff urged outreach and missionary work and warned that much of what the Church stands for, and the belief in Jesus Christ, has been lessened in the eyes of both believers and non-believers.

“Today, too, there are many settings in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman,” he said in a homily translated from Italian, warning that this has led to even baptized Christians living in “a state of practical atheism.”

Pope Leo XIV leads the Pro Ecclesia Mass in the Sistine Chapel, on May 9, 2025 in Vatican City. (Photo by Vatican Media/Vatican Pool – Corbis/Getty Images)

In his homily, the pope also pointed to a loss of faith and argued it has not only led to a loss in the meaning of life, but a loss in “human dignity.”

Pope Leo XIV leads the Pro Ecclesia Mass in the Sistine Chapel, on May 9, 2025 in Vatican City. (Photo by Vatican Media/Vatican Pool – Corbis/Getty Images)

“These are contexts where it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied,” he said. 

Pope Leo went on to say that “A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society.”