Leading Ash Wednesday rites, the pontiff linked the call to repentance with the devastation of war, broken justice, wounded creation, and a fading sense of the sacred.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV led the traditional Ash Wednesday penitential procession on Rome\u2019s Aventine Hill on Feb. 18, walking with clergy and faithful to the Basilica of Santa Sabina, where he celebrated Mass marking the start of Lent.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on the meaning of the ashes traditionally imposed on the heads of the faithful, Leo recalled a 1966 catechesis by St. Paul VI, who described the public celebration of the rite as a \u201csevere and striking penitential ceremony\u201d and as \u201ca realistic pedagogy,\u201d intended to cut through modern illusions and widespread pessimism that can reduce life to \u201cthe metaphysics of the absurd and of nothingness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pope Leo celebrates his first Ash Wednesday Liturgy as Bishop of Rome with the Penitential Procession on the Aventine Hill from Sant\u2019Anselmo to the Basilica of Santa Sabina. This ancient practice of the Holy Father participating in the Roman Station Church liturgy was restored\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/F9OfUSSllI<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, we can recognize that his words were prophetic as we perceive in the ashes imposed on us the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war,\u201d Leo said.<\/p>\n
He said that devastation is echoed in \u201cthe ashes of international law and justice among peoples,\u201d \u201cthe ashes of entire ecosystems and harmony among peoples,\u201d \u201cthe ashes of critical thinking and ancient local wisdom,\u201d and \u201cthe ashes of that sense of the sacred that dwells in every creature.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the same homily, the pope urged Catholics to treat Lent as a time when the Church is renewed as a true community, even as modern society finds it harder to come together in communion.<\/p>\n
Leo stressed that sin is never only private because it shapes and is shaped by the real and digital environments people inhabit. \u201cNaturally, sin is always personal, but it takes shape in the real and virtual contexts of life\u2026 and often within real economic, cultural, political, and even religious \u2018structures of sin,\u2019\u201d he said. Against idolatry, he added, Scripture calls Christians to dare to be free and to rediscover freedom through \u201can exodus, a journey,\u201d rather than remaining \u201cparalyzed, rigid, or complacent.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pope also pointed to what he described as a renewed attentiveness among young people to Ash Wednesday\u2019s call to accountability. \u201cYoung people especially understand clearly that it is possible to live a just lifestyle, and that there should be accountability for wrongdoings in the Church and in the world,\u201d he said, urging Catholics to \u201cstart where we can, with those who are around us,\u201d and to embrace \u201cthe missionary significance of Lent\u201d for \u201cthe many restless people of goodwill\u201d seeking genuine renewal.<\/p>\n
The pope also highlighted the ancient Roman tradition of the Lenten station churches, which begins each year with Santa Sabina. \u201cThe ancient Roman tradition of the Lenten \u2018stationes\u2019 \u2014 which begins today with the first station \u2014 is instructive,\u201d he said, noting that it points both to moving, as pilgrims, and to pausing \u2014 \u2018statio\u2019 \u2014 at the memories of the martyrs on which Rome\u2019s basilicas were built.<\/p>\n
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.<\/p>\n