Pope Leo XIV on Friday warned that losing one’s faith can have dramatic side effects.
The new pontiff spoke in his first mass.
According to him, the consequences of losing faith include finding that the meaning of life is lost, mercy is forgotten, and human dignity is violated in the most dramatic ways.
“The crisis of the family and many other wounds from which our society is suffering significantly,” he said.
Nowadays, faith is regarded as something absurd, as something for weak and unintelligent people, the new pontiff told the faithful.
He added that faith is often replaced by other things such as technology, money, success, power and pleasure.
Pope Leo XIV reiterated that the figure of Jesus Christ is often seen merely as a charismatic leader or superhuman.
This, he said, was effectively a form of atheism.
“And I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me, as we continue as a Church, as a community of friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the Good News, to announce the Gospel,” the Chicago-born pope said.
