Particle.news

Download on the App Store

Pope Leo XIV Denounces Exclusionary Nationalism at Pentecost Mass

He framed opposition to political nationalism as a moral imperative rooted in the Christian call to open hearts to strangers

Image
Pope Leo XIV leads the mass for the Jubilee of the Ecclesial Movements, Associations and New Communities, in St. Peter square at the Vatican, June 8, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Pope Leo XIV leads the mass for the Jubilee of the Ecclesial Movements, Associations and New Communities, in St. Peter square at the Vatican, June 8, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Pope Leo XIV leads the mass for the Jubilee of the Ecclesial Movements, Associations and New Communities, in St. Peter square at the Vatican, June 8, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

Overview

  • At Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, the first American pope condemned an “exclusionary mindset” that separates peoples through closed borders and walls in political nationalisms
  • He invoked Pope Francis’s teaching to break down barriers of indifference and hatred across class, race and nation
  • Leo XIV prayed for inner peace as the necessary foundation for reconciliation and renewed appeals for a just peace in Ukraine and a ceasefire in Gaza
  • Since his May 8 election, former Cardinal Robert Prevost has stressed unity over partisan agendas, including earlier public critiques of President Donald Trump’s immigration stance
  • His message directly challenges Christian nationalist ideologies that seek to fuse faith with authoritarian political aims