Leo XIV calls for a 'revolution of love' and empathy for the suffering of others during his first public Mass.

Leo XIV advocated empathy as a "path" toward an "authentic fraternity" without walls and close to the problems of others, during his first public Mass during his days off in the town of Castel Gandolfo.

"To see without passing by, to stop our hectic careers, to let the life of the other, whoever it may be, with their needs and sufferings, break my heart. This makes us neighbors to one another, generates authentic brotherhood, and tears down walls and fences," he maintained during his homily.

The pontiff celebrated his first public Mass this Sunday in this town near Rome, where popes have traditionally rested in the summer because it's cooler, resuming that custom after his predecessor Francis's nearly thirteen-year absence.

The Eucharist took place in the small church of San Tommaso da Villanova, before a few people, and Leo XIV focused his homily on compassion, inspired by the parable of the 'Good Samaritan'.

"This story continues to challenge us even today. It challenges our lives, shakes the tranquility of our dormant or distracted consciences, and challenges us against the risk of a complacent faith, ordered by the external observance of the law, but incapable of feeling and acting with the same compassionate depths as God," he said.

In this sense, he maintained that in today's world there are two ways of looking at it: "you can see it and move on, or you can see it and feel compassion," with "an empathy" that allows you to understand "the other."

Thus, the Augustinian pontiff claimed that "this revolution of love" and compassion is needed today.

Above all, to reach out to "all those who sink into evil, suffering, and poverty," to "so many people overwhelmed by difficulties or wounded by life's circumstances," or to all those who "collapse until they hit rock bottom."

But also to "so many peoples dispossessed, swindled, and devastated, victims of oppressive political systems, of an economy that forces them into poverty, of the war that kills their dreams and their lives."

"What do we do? Do we see and pass by, or do we let our hearts be pierced like the Samaritan? Sometimes we are content simply with doing our duty or we consider as our neighbors only those who are in our circle, those who think like us, those who have the same nationality or religion," he criticized.

During the Mass, which was attended by several residents and local authorities, the pontiff received gifts from the faithful, such as flowers and a ball, a nod to his well-known passion for sports.

Leo XIV will rest in this town on the shores of Lake Albano, in the Villa Barberini on the papal property—the palace was converted into a museum by Francis—until July 20, and will then return to rest on the weekend of August 15.