Overview
- At the Dec. 8 Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV called believers to echo Mary’s generous yes to God and to welcome the mission God offers.
- He taught that the miracle granted to Mary is renewed in Baptism, which cleanses from original sin and makes Christians children of God and temples of the Spirit.
- He underlined that God bestows great gifts yet leaves each person free to accept them, referencing St. Augustine to invite a simple, trusting faith.
- He noted he would pay homage at Rome’s Piazza di Spagna by laying a wreath at the Marian column, continuing the annual tradition begun by John XXIII, with firefighters placing the wreath atop the 27‑meter monument.
- Vatican News set his remarks within a decades‑long papal pattern rooted in Pius IX’s 1854 dogma and Pius XII’s link to the Assumption, while a White House message also marked the feast in the United States.