Vatican City | Pope Leo XIV, history's first North American pope, has addressed cardinals in English at the start of his first Mass, saying “you have called me to carry the cross and to be blessed” and asking for their help to spread the Catholic faith.

It was the first time Leo made public remarks in English, after he spoke in Italian and Spanish only in his first comments to the world from the loggia of St Peter's Basilica on Thursday.

Leo offered off-the-cuff remarks at the start of his homily in the Sistine Chapel Friday before the cardinals who elected him.