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.

Pope Leo XIV led the traditional Ash Wednesday penitential procession on Rome’s 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.

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 “severe and striking penitential ceremony” and as “a realistic pedagogy,” intended to cut through modern illusions and widespread pessimism that can reduce life to “the metaphysics of the absurd and of nothingness.”

“Today, 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,” Leo said.

He said that devastation is echoed in “the ashes of international law and justice among peoples,” “the ashes of entire ecosystems and harmony among peoples,” “the ashes of critical thinking and ancient local wisdom,” and “the ashes of that sense of the sacred that dwells in every creature.”

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.

Leo stressed that sin is never only private because it shapes and is shaped by the real and digital environments people inhabit. “Naturally, sin is always personal, but it takes shape in the real and virtual contexts of life… and often within real economic, cultural, political, and even religious ‘structures of sin,’” he said. Against idolatry, he added, Scripture calls Christians to dare to be free and to rediscover freedom through “an exodus, a journey,” rather than remaining “paralyzed, rigid, or complacent.”

The pope also pointed to what he described as a renewed attentiveness among young people to Ash Wednesday’s call to accountability. “Young 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,” he said, urging Catholics to “start where we can, with those who are around us,” and to embrace “the missionary significance of Lent” for “the many restless people of goodwill” seeking genuine renewal.

The pope also highlighted the ancient Roman tradition of the Lenten station churches, which begins each year with Santa Sabina. “The ancient Roman tradition of the Lenten ‘stationes’ — which begins today with the first station — is instructive,” he said, noting that it points both to moving, as pilgrims, and to pausing — ‘statio’ — at the memories of the martyrs on which Rome’s basilicas were built.

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.