Being religious does not automatically mean someone is compassionate, and yet for a Christian compassion is a clear sign of following Christ, Pope Leo XIV said.
Pope Leo XIV called attention to two important events that fell on May 24: the day of prayer for Catholics in China and the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment.
Celebrating his first Mass in Rome's diocesan cathedral, Pope Leo XIV said communion is built primarily "on our knees," through prayer and a constant commitment to conversion.
The Gospel parable of the "wasteful sower" who casts seeds on fertile soil as well as on a rocky path "is an image of the way God loves us," Pope Leo XIV told visitors and pilgrims at his first weekly general audience.