Vatican City • At a Mass in the Sistine Chapel on Friday attended by the cardinals who had elected him their leader the day before, Pope Leo XIV spelled out his missionary vision for the church. But first he told the cardinals that his leadership would continue to depend on them.

Pope Leo XIV has celebrated his first Mass, a day after his historic election as the first U.S.-born pope in the church’s 2,000-year history. The election of cardinal Robert Prevost as the new pontiff overcame the traditional prohibition against a pope from the United States.

Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Mass in the Sistine Chapel where he was elected less than 24 hours earlier, warning of the dangers caused by a lack of faith and hoping the Catholic Church could be a beacon lighting the world's "dark nights".