Pope Leo XIV Urges Argentines to Pursue Holiness and Reject Idols
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in Córdoba before about 650,000 people, then told a Buenos Aires vigil of about one million to reject modern idols and become saints.
The facts come first below. My opinion follows in the section marked as opinion.
Pope Leo XIV spent Tuesday, Nov. 10, calling Catholics in Argentina to holiness and warning young people not to bow down to the idols of the age. In the morning he celebrated Mass at the Military Aviation School in Córdoba. That night he led a prayer vigil in Buenos Aires.
A Vatican press bulletin said the Mass was celebrated "in the presence of approximately 650 thousand people, according to local authorities." A later Vatican bulletin said the vigil at the Monumento de los Españoles "was attended by approximately one million people." UCA News, in a Nov. 11 report from OSV News, likewise reported that the pope celebrated the Córdoba Mass before approximately 650,000 people, according to local authorities, and that more than 1 million gathered for the Buenos Aires vigil.
The Mass fell on the feast of St. Leo the Great, the pope's namesake. In his official homily, Pope Leo said, "Yes, dear brothers and sisters, we are all called to holiness. This is our task here on earth: to attain perfect union with God." He said the calling is missionary, and that Christians must "teach what is consistent with sound doctrine."
He then made his own the exhortation of St. Leo the Great, as recorded in the official homily: "Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God's own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God."
Near the end of the Mass, the pope said, according to the official text, "Open your hearts, and with God's grace, go forth and be holy." He added, "Go and evangelize!"
After returning to Buenos Aires, the pope spoke to the young people at the vigil. In the official address published by the Vatican, he said, "Dear friends, today too, idols arise and demand our worship: success at any cost, money, an obsession with appearance, popularity or the unrestrained pursuit of pleasure." He warned that people may "lie, betray or humiliate someone on social media" to win approval, and that some "make a business of offering pleasures that ultimately enslave us, such as pornography and addictive substances."
He continued, in the same official text, "You too are called to stand firm before the idols of our time. Do not bow down before anything that cannot give you life. And if you have ever fallen, get back up. Do not allow anything or anyone to take away the freedom God has given you."
Pope Leo told the crowd, according to the Vatican text, "To each of you I would like to say that there is a place for you in the Church, with your questions, your wounds and your story. This is your home too." He added, "Whoever you are and whatever you may have done, Jesus Christ knows you, Jesus Christ loves you and wants you to be close to him." He also said, "Christ loves us as we are, but his love is too great to leave us prisoners of sin, of what destroys us." He urged, "Do not be afraid to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation." Then he said, "And that is what I would like to invite you to do tonight: become saints." Before a blessing, he entrusted the young people with the words, "Go and proclaim!"
The pope is in the middle of an apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from Nov. 6 to 17, according to the official Vatican bulletins. A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has separately asked House leaders to invite him to address Congress, as Dock Line reported in 91 Lawmakers Ask House Leaders to Invite Pope Leo XIV to Address Congress.
Opinion:
This is not complicated, and it should not be softened. A pope told a huge crowd that every Christian is called to be holy, that sin is a return to a base condition, and that the idols of the age — money, display, pornography, and addictive pleasure — cannot give life. He is right.
Modern religion often wants the welcome without the repentance. Pope Leo offered both, and in the right order. He said there is a place in the Church for the wounded and the far-off. He also said Christ's love is too great to leave people prisoners of sin. Mercy that never mentions confession is not mercy. It is flattery.
Americans should listen. This is an American-born pope speaking in public, in the plain language of Scripture and the saints, not in the language of a brand. Holiness is not a mood. Evangelism is not a marketing plan. The young are not helped by adults who shrug at idols. They are helped by a Church that tells the truth, hears confessions, and then says to go and proclaim the Gospel.
