CT News
Feb. 19, 2026 : On Ash Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV began his first Lenten journey as Successor of Peter, leading the historic penitential procession on Rome’s Aventine Hill. Walking alongside cardinals, Benedictine monks, and Dominican friars, the Holy Father participated in the ancient Roman tradition that moves from the Basilica of Sant’Anselmo to the Basilica of Santa Sabina, where Mass was celebrated.
Presiding over the mass, Pope Leo reflected on repentance, community, and death.
The ashes the attendees were about to receive on their forehands, he said, remind us of “the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war.”
The state of the world, Pope Leo stressed, asks us on this Ash Wednesday “to call death for what it is, and to carry its marks within us”.
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the 40-day period of fasting and prayer that precedes Easter.
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