Pope Leo XIV warned of the 'Herods' in the modern world: the 'myths of success at any price, unscrupulous power, empty and superficial well-being', during his message for the Sunday Angelus prayer.
Appearing from the window of the Apostolic Palace before thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square, the American pontiff dedicated his message to the flight of the Holy Family after Herod's order to kill the newborns.
'Unfortunately, the world always has its Herods,' he said. 'It is about their myths of success at any price, unscrupulous power, empty and superficial well-being, and often, they suffer the consequences with loneliness, despair, with divisions and conflicts,' he warned.
Therefore, he asked that Christian families not let 'these illusions stifle the flame of love in Christian families'.
'On the contrary, let us protect in them the values of the Gospel: prayer, frequency of the sacraments, especially confession and communion, healthy affections, sincere dialogue, fidelity, the simple and beautiful realism of the good words and gestures of each day'.
And he asked for the blessing 'on our families and all the families of the world, so that, following the model of the family of his Son made man, they may be for all an effective sign of his presence and his infinite love'.
