Pope Leo XIV, history’s first US pope, yesterday vowed to work for unity so that the Catholic Church becomes a sign of peace in the world, offering a message of communion during an inaugural Mass in St Peter’s Square before an estimated 200,000 pilgrims, presidents, patriarchs and princes.
Leo officially opened his pontificate by taking his first popemobile tour through the piazza, a rite of passage that has become synonymous with the papacy’s global reach and mediatic draw. The 69-year-old Augustinian missionary smiled and waved from the back of the truck, but did not appear to stop to kiss babies and the crowd.
During the Mass, Leo appeared to choke up when the two potent symbols of the papacy were placed on him — the lambswool stole over his shoulders and the fisherman’s ring on his finger — as if the weight of responsibility of leading the 1.4 billion strong church had just sunk in.
Photo: AP
He turned his hand to look at the ring and seal, and then clasped his hands in front of him in prayer.
US Vice President J.D. Vance, one of the last foreign officials to see Pope Francis before he died, led the US delegation honoring the Chicago-born Leo after paying his respects at the Argentine pope’s tomb upon arriving in Rome late on Saturday.
In his homily, Leo said he wanted to be a servant to the faithful through the two dimensions of the papacy, love and unity, so that the church could be a force for peace in the world.
“I would like that our first great desire be for a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world,” he said. “In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest.”
His call for unity was significant, given the polarization in the Catholic Church in the US and beyond.
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