“Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love!” With these words, Pope Leo XIV called for unity in the Catholic Church so that it may be a credible witness and force for reconciliation in a polarized, divided and war torn world. He issued this appeal in his homily during his installation Mass, as he began his ministry on May 18 as the 266th successor of St. Peter and leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
“I greet all of you with a heart full of gratitude at the beginning of the ministry that has been entrusted to me,” the first pope from the Augustinian order told the 200,000 people who were gathered in St. Peter’s Square and the surrounding area under a blue sky and blazing sun, on Sunday morning. Many carried flags of their homeland, including those from the United States, Peru and Ukraine. They cheered enthusiastically as Pope Leo, for the first time, drove in the popemobile through the square before the Mass, and many in festive mood chanted “Viva il Papa!” while others shouted “USA, USA!”
Pope Leo said, “Brothers and sisters, 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. 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.”
Speaking as the new leader of the Catholic church, he said in words that drew more applause: “For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion and fraternity within the world. We want to say to the world, with humility and joy: Look to Christ! Come closer to him! Welcome his word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to his offer of love and become his one family: In the one Christ, we are one.”
Reaffirming his intention to reach out to others, Leo told the world’s Catholics: “This is the path to follow together, among ourselves but also with our sister Christian churches, with those who follow other religious paths, with those who are searching for God, with all women and men of good will, in order to build a new world where peace reigns!”
Leo XIV, a descendant of migrants, said: “This is the missionary spirit that must animate us; not closing ourselves off in our small groups, nor feeling superior to the world. We are called to offer God’s love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people.”
He told his global audience, “Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love! The heart of the Gospel is the love of God that makes us brothers and sisters.” He encouraged them: “Let us build a church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word, allows itself to be made ‘restless’ by history, and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.”
A Global Event
Present at his historic event were official delegations from 156 countries, including the presidents of Italy, Peru, Ukraine and Ireland, as well as the U.S. vice president JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The prime ministers of Italy, Canada, Australia and many other countries also attended as did members of the royal families of Holland, Belgium, the United Kingdom and other nations. Following tradition, the pope greeted all of them in the basilica after Mass.
All the other Christian churches sent representatives, and Leo greeted them at the end of Mass, beginning with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, followed by representatives of the various Orthodox or Greek Orthodox patriarchates including those from Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Moscow, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Giorgia, Cyprus, Greece, and the Apostolic church of Armenia. He also greeted the representatives of the Anglican Communion, the World Lutheran Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the World Methodist Alliance and many others. He did likewise with the representatives of the main world religions, including from the Jewish, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus communities.
In his homily, after quoting the memorable words of St. Augustine—“Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”—he spoke about the “intense emotions” experienced by people worldwide over the past month following the death of Pope Francis on April 21. His death, he said, “filled our hearts with sadness” and we felt “like sheep without a shepherd.” At the mention of Francis’ name, the crowd applauded. Pope Leo recalled that on Easter Sunday, in this same square, “we received his final blessing.” But, he said, “in the light of the resurrection, we experienced the days that followed in the certainty that the Lord never abandons his people, but gathers them when they are scattered and guards them ‘as a shepherd guards his flock.’”
“In this spirit of faith,” he said, the cardinals, “from different backgrounds and experiences” gathered in conclave and “placed in God’s hands our desire to elect the new Successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome, a shepherd capable of preserving the rich heritage of the Christian faith and, at the same time, looking to the future, in order to confront the questions, concerns and challenges of today’s world.”
He told those in St. Peter’s Square that “accompanied by your prayers, we could feel the working of the Holy Spirit, who was able to bring us into harmony, like musical instruments, so that our heartstrings could vibrate in a single melody,” leading to his own election in a 24-hour conclave.
“I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family,” he said to applause.
“Love and unity…are the two dimensions of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus,” Leo said.
He recalled that the Gospel read at Mass told how Jesus began the mission he received from the Father “to be a ‘fisher’ of humanity in order to draw it up from the waters of evil and death.” And, he said, Jesus “called Peter and the other first disciples to be, like him, ‘fishers of men’… to carry on this mission, to cast their nets again and again, to bring the hope of the Gospel into the ‘waters’ of the world, to sail the seas of life so that all may experience God’s embrace.”
“How can Peter carry out this task?” Pope Leo asked. He said the Gospel “tells us that it is possible only because his own life was touched by the infinite and unconditional love of God, even in the hour of his failure and denial,” because it is “only in the love of God the Father will you be able to love your brothers and sisters with that same ‘more,’ that is, by offering your life for your brothers and sisters.” Peter was “entrusted with the task of “loving more” and giving his life for the flock,” he said, alluding to the fact Peter was crucified upside down not far from where he was speaking.
The new pope from the Americas told his global audience, “The ministry of Peter is distinguished precisely by this self-sacrificing love, because the church of Rome presides in charity and its true authority is the charity of Christ. It is never a question of capturing others by force, by religious propaganda or by means of power. Instead, it is always and only a question of loving as Jesus did.”
“If the rock is Christ,” he said, “Peter must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him (1 Pet 5:3).” On the contrary, “he is called to serve the faith of his brothers and sisters, and to walk alongside them, for all of us are “living stones” (1 Pet 2:5), called through our baptism to build God’s house in fraternal communion, in the harmony of the Spirit, in the coexistence of diversity.” He recalled Saint Augustine’s words: “The church consists of all those who are in harmony with their brothers and sisters and who love their neighbour.”
He called on all believers, “Together, as one people, as brothers and sisters, let us walk towards God and love one another.” His words brought more applause from the enormous crowd present in St. Peter’s Square and the surrounding area.
An Impressive Liturgy
The liturgical ceremony began in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10:00 a.m., when Leo XIV, wearing a white cope and mitre, and carrying the pastoral cross of Paul VI, that John Paul II and Francis also used, walked down the central aisle, in the midst of the 200 cardinals who lined up on either side of him. Then, accompanied by the Patriarchs of the Oriental Catholic Churches, he descended to the confession of St. Peter, where the apostle is buried, and stood there in silent prayer for a short time. Next, the deacons took the pallium, the fisherman’s ring, and the Book of the Gospels that had been placed there the previous day, and carried them in procession before the pope as he ascended the steps. Pope Leo then followed the cardinals as they processed to the altar on the steps overlooking St. Peter’s Square, as the Sistine Choir led the singing of the Litany of the Saints.
Pope Leo concelebrated the solemn sung Mass, in Latin, with 200 cardinals from some 96 countries, and 750 bishops and priests from all continents. The scripture readings were in Spanish, English and Latin, while the prayers were said in Portuguese, French, Arabic, Polish and Chinese.
After the reading of the Gospel in both Latin and Greek, the new Bishop of Rome was given the liturgical insignia of the Roman Pontiff: the pallium and the fisherman’s ring, an insignia that dates back to the first millennium. Cardinal Mario Zenari, representing Europe, placed the pallium on his shoulders, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, representing Africa read the prayer, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, representing Asia, placed the ring on his finger. The pope then blessed the people with the Book of the Gospels, and all present applauded the newly installed Bishop of Rome.
Next, 10 representatives of the people of God, and on its behalf, went up to him and promised obedience to the new successor of Peter, including three cardinals—one was Frank Leo representing North America—a bishop from Peru, two representatives of two international unions of religious superiors—Sr. Oona O’Shea and Father Arturo Sosa S.J.—a married couple and two young people.
At the end of Mass, Pope Leo thanked the thousands of pilgrims who had come from every continent for the Jubilee of Confraternities this weekend; he praised them “for keeping the great heritage of popular piety alive!”
He told his global audience that “during Mass, I strongly felt the spiritual presence of Pope Francis accompanying us from heaven.” His words brought strong applause from all present.
Pope Leo, like his predecessor, appealed for the war torn peoples of Gaza, Ukraine and Myanmar. He said, “we cannot forget our brothers and sisters who are suffering because of war. In Gaza, the surviving children, families and elderly are reduced to starvation.” His words were particularly striking as Israel’s president Isaac Herzog was close by as he spoke. He also spoke of Myanmar where, he said, “new hostilities have cut short innocent young lives.” Finally, he turned his attention to “war-torn Ukraine” which, he said, “awaits negotiations for a just and lasting peace.”
Before giving his blessing, Leo XIV entrusted his service as Bishop of Rome and Pastor of the Universal Church to Our Lady of Good Counsel and implored her intercession “for the gift of peace, for support and comfort for those who suffer, and for the grace for all of us to be witnesses to the Risen Lord.”
