"It is the hour of love!": Leo XIV calls for a united Church for a reconciled world

RomeThere was a time when the Mass with which a new pope officially began his pontificate was called the "enthronement," referring to the figure of a monarch, an absolute king, which also characterizes the leader of the Catholic Church. Currently, this term is no longer used, but in practice, the solemn ceremony that marks the beginning of the papacy remains charged with symbolism. Before 150 international delegations and nearly 200,000 faithful, Leo XIV received this Sunday the pallium and the Fisherman's Ring, symbols of the authority of the successor of Peter, and He launched a message in favor of a united Church that acts as a "leaven" for a reconciled world..

"In our time we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, fear of what is different, by an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth's resources and marginalizes the poorest," the pontiff denounced during the homily, in which he proposed a Church and that it be "a Church that is" that becomes "leaven for a reconciled world." "This is the hour of love!" he exclaimed.

If in his speech to the faithful on May 8, after appearing for the first time on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, the most repeated word was peace, this Sunday, during the homily, the key word was unitAnd this is no small detail: Leo XIV probably wanted to send a message within the Catholic institution itself, still wounded by the strong internal divisions that arose during Francis's pontificate.

In this sense, the American pontiff has defended that the Pope cannot be "a solitary leader or a head above others," and has affirmed that "God wants us all united in one family," thus proclaiming a synodal Church and making a gesture to the more conservative sector, critical of Francis's alleged authoritarianism, to which he re-questioned Francis' authoritarianism.

A message for Gaza and Ukraine

Before concluding the mass and imparting the blessing of the Regina Caeli, Leo XIV wanted to remember the suffering in Gaza, "where children and the elderly are reduced to starvation", and he has not forgotten "tormented Ukraine," which awaits negotiations that will lead to "a just and lasting peace."

The ceremony that officially began the pontificate of Leo XIV today began an hour before the homily, when the Pope went down to pray before the tomb of St. Peter inside the Vatican Basilica. There were the reliquaries with the pallium and the Fisherman's Ring, symbols of the papacy, which were later imposed on him.

The pontiff arrived in procession with the pastoral cross and went down to the tomb of St. Peter accompanied by the patriarchs of the Eastern rite Catholic Churches, where he remained for a few minutes in prayer. He then proceeded in procession to the altar in front of the basilica, where three cardinals from three continents and different orders—deacon, priest, and bishop—representing the universality of the Church, placed the papal symbols on him.

Leo XIV first received the pallium, a white stole representing the weight of the flock on the shepherd's shoulders, decorated with six black silk crosses and held in place by three pins symbolizing the nails of the Cross. "Today you succeed the Blessed Apostle Peter," proclaimed Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines before presenting him with the Fisherman's Ring, engraved with his Latin name, symbolizing his mission as the apostle's successor.

Before the ceremony began, Leo XIV drove the Popemobile around Piazza Sant Pere for the first time to greet the nearly 200,000 faithful who had begun arriving at six in the morning and enthusiastically welcomed the new Pope with cries of "Le."

Although the inauguration ceremony of the pontificate is a centuries-old tradition, with a very precise liturgy and far removed from diplomacy, today Sant Pere Square has once again become an international summit, as was the case with Francis' funeral, with representatives from 150 delegations of ambassadors and monarchs. Among them were the Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, and the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom Leo XIV met privately after the homily.

Meeting between Zelensky and Vance

The US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, held special attention today, as it is the Pope's home country. Rubio was received on Saturday by his Vatican counterpart, Pietro Parolin, while the pontiff is likely to receive the US vice president on Monday, who used his visit to Rome to promote a new round of contacts between Washington and Kiev.

Vance and Zelensky met this afternoon at the residence of the US ambassador to Italy, which was the first meeting between the two since the tense meeting they held in the Oval Office last February. Later, the US vice president also met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who also attended Leo XIV's enthronement ceremony, in a closed-door meeting where they discussed relations between Brussels and the White House.

The one who was received in audience by Leo XIV before the mass was the President of Peru, Dina Boluarte, country where the new pontiff served for almost two decades and of which he obtained nationality. Also significant was the presence in St. Peter's Square of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who did not attend Francis' funeral in retaliation for the Argentine pope's criticism of the Israeli army's attacks in the Gaza Strip.

Once the ceremony was over, Leo XIV greeted the representatives of the foreign delegations one by one, including King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. The most emotional moment came when the new pontiff broke protocol and embraced his brother Louis, who had traveled to Rome specifically to attend the "enthronement" of Bob, as the youngest of the Prevost brothers is familiarly known.