Diocese celebrates Mass of Thanksgiving for Pope Leo XIV
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Photo credit | Dave Garrett
At noon on Friday, May 9, the day after our new pontiff, Pope Leo XIV was elected, many faithful gathered at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving. Bishop Douglas J. Lucia was the principal celebrant, joined by several diocesan priests and Bishop Emeritus Robert J. Cunningham.
As he greeted attendants at the beginning of Mass, Bishop explained that we come together “to give thanks to Almighty God for our new Holy Father, the new Bishop of Rome, Pope Leo XIV, who … succeeds St. Peter, whose role was to strengthen the faith and bring unity to the early church, and now that’s the role of the new pope. So we pray for him, we pray for all the graces, for the working of the Holy Spirit that he needs at this time.”
In his homily, Bishop also noted his incredulity upon learning the new pope is from the United States: “I was sitting stunned thinking, ‘they’ve elected an American.’ I never really thought I would see a day that there would be an American pope. And yet, what is really more significant is that he is a true son of the Church, in the sense of one whose whole life … has been to move aside so that Christ might remain.”
View the full Mass via livestream at www.youtube.com/@syrdio/streams.
