VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV exhorted the faithful on Sunday to reject an “exclusionary mindset” he said had led to nationalism around the world.
Leo’s homily did not call out current events and conflicts nor identify individual leaders. But his choice of language was significant, encouraging people to “open borders” within their hearts and minds.
The address marked a month since the former Robert Prevost from Chicago was elected pope, and came during a Sunday mass to celebrate Pentacost held under sunny skies in St Peter’s Square.
Before mass, the 69-year-old pontiff made a turn around the sprawling Baroque square in his popemobile to the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd, estimated by the Vatican at around 80,000 people.
Leo said the Church “must open the borders between peoples and break down the barriers between class and race”.
People must move “beyond our fear of those who are different,“ he said, noting that the Holy Spirit “breaks down barriers and tears down the walls of indifference and hatred…”
“Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for ‘security’ zones separating us from our neighbours, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms.”
Leo did not speak of physical borders but his focus on barriers and walls evoked the politics of US President Donald Trump, who has vowed to stem illegal immigration into the United States.
The pope also said the Holy Spirit was an antidote to toxic relationships marked by “suspicion, prejudice or the desire to manipulate others”.
“With great pain,“ Leo cited “cases where relationships are marked by an unhealthy desire for domination, an attitude that often leads to violence, as is shown, tragically, by numerous recent cases of femicide”.
In Italy, a slew of femicides have become front-page news over the last month, including the killing of a 14-year girl by her boyfriend last week.
Leo also cited the dangers of social media, saying it risked making people “ever more alone” within a “vortex of individualism.”
“Constantly connected, yet incapable of ‘networking’. Always immersed in a crowd, yet confused and solitary travellers,“ he said.
Since his election, Leo has offered to mediate between leaders of countries at war and earlier this week, he had his first telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Several speeches made by the new pontiff — including among his first words from St Peter’s Basilica when he became pope on May 8 — have focused on building bridges between individuals and peoples.
Pentecost marks the end of the Easter season and commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ.
