Leo XIV dedicated his third Sunday as pope to the city and diocese of Rome, and from “the mother church of the world”—the Basilica of St. John Lateran—he told the people that he loved them and, in a striking act of humility he said, “I offer you ‘the little I have and am.’”
He said he wished to “listen to everyone as much as possible, in order to learn, understand and decide things together” and to be, in the words of Saint Augustine, “a Christian with you and a Bishop for you.”
It was a truly hectic Sunday, May 25, for the American-born pope, as he visited the two major basilicas: St. John Lateran and St. Mary Major, and stopped on route to the former to be greeted by the mayor of Rome.
His busy day began when he appeared for the first time at the papal study window on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace, at midday, to greet the tens of thousands of Romans and pilgrims from many countries gathered in St. Peter’s Square on a warm, sunny Sunday, May 25.
He told them “in whatever the Lord calls us to do, in both our daily lives and our journey of faith, there are times when we feel inadequate.” But, he said, “this Sunday’s Gospel (cf. Jn 14:23-29) tells us not to rely on our own abilities but on the mercy of the Lord who has chosen us, and to be certain that the Holy Spirit guides us and teaches us all things.” He said: “It is wonderful to think that, when we consider our individual calling, the situations we encounter and the people entrusted to our care, our commitments and responsibilities, and our service in the church, each of us can say with confidence: ‘Despite my weakness, the Lord is not ashamed of my humanity. Instead, he comes to dwell within me. He accompanies me with his Spirit; he enlightens me and makes me an instrument of his love for others, for society and for the world.’”
Based on that promise, he said, “Let us resolve to bring [the Lord’s] love everywhere, never forgetting that each of our sisters and brothers is a dwelling place of God and that his presence is manifested above all in the little ones, in the poor and the suffering, who ask us to be thoughtful and compassionate Christians.”
He called on people to pray for “all those peoples suffering because our prayer embraces all those peoples suffering because of war” and to “implore courage and perseverance for those engaged in dialogue and in the sincere search for peace.” But, surprisingly he did not mention Gaza or Ukraine.
He recalled that yesterday, May 24, was “the liturgical memorial” of the Blessed Virgin Mary Help of Christians when “in churches and shrines throughout China and around the world, prayers were offered to God as a sign of concern and affection for Chinese Catholics and their communion with the universal church.” He prayed that Our Lady’s intercession “may obtain for them, and for us, the grace to be strong and joyful witnesses of the Gospel, even in the midst of trials, so that we may always promote peace and harmony.”
At 4 p.m., he set out from the Vatican for St. John Lateran’s Basilica, but—following tradition— he stopped at the steps of the Capitoline Hill to be welcomed by the city’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri who told him: “We are happy that Rome is now your city, and we offer you the most intense and sincere wishes for your new mission. We have a great desire to walk together.”
Pope Leo replied by recalling that immediately after his election, “I reminded the brothers and sisters gathered in St Peter’s Square that I am a Christian with them and a bishop for them: in a special way, today I can say that for you and with you I am Roman!” “For two millennia,” he said, “the church has lived her apostolate in Rome by proclaiming the Gospel of Christ and doing her utmost in charity” and it would continue on that path.
From the city center, Pope Leo drove in a black Volkswagen SUV to the Lateran basilica where crowds, including many pilgrims, had waited for hours to see him. They cheered when he arrived at what is the cathedral of the diocese of Rome, and he waved to them.
Seventeen hundred years ago, Constantine the Great, the Roman emperor, gave the Lateran Palace to the then bishop of Rome, Pope Miltiades (311-314), which subsequently became the papal residence for many centuries, and the cathedral church of Rome. The Lateran basilica— dedicated first to Christ the Savior and later to John the Baptist and John the Evangelist—has suffered more than any of the other churches in the city down the centuries not only from the Vandals, but also from earthquakes in the 8th and 15th century, fires and much else. Twenty-two popes are buried here, including Leo XIII, whose remains were brought across the city from St. Peter’s Basilica in 1924 , just as Pope Francis’ were taken to St. Mary Major’s Basilica one hundred years later.
Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the vicar general of Rome, welcomed the pope as the crowds cheered. He then entered the basilica through the Holy Door and, as the choir sang, he was accompanied by deacons and the master of ceremonies to the altar, which he kissed on reaching there. He then went and stood in front of the chair in the apse that Leo XIII had restructured, where Cardinal Reina formally welcomed him as the new Bishop of Rome. When the cardinal concluded by inviting him to sit down on the chair, marking the moment of his installation, the congregation applauded enthusiastically, welcoming their new bishop, the first ever from the United States. Immediately after, a representative from each of the categories of faithful present—namely the bishops, priests, women and men religious and the lay faithful—went up to pay homage to their new pastor.
Pope Leo thanked them all in his homily, and reminded them that “the church of Rome is heir to a great history, grounded in the witness of Peter, Paul and countless martyrs, and it has a unique mission, as we see from the inscription on the façade of this Cathedral: to be Omnium Ecclesiarum Mater, mother of all the churches.” He recalled that Pope Francis “frequently encouraged us to reflect on the maternal dimension of the church and her defining qualities of tenderness, self-sacrifice and the capacity to listen” and, Leo said, “Those qualities enable her not only to assist others but often to anticipate their needs and expectations before they are even expressed.”
He said, the Acts of the Apostles (cf. 15) “described how the early Christian community faced the challenge of opening to the pagan world in its preaching of the Gospel.” This was no easy matter, he remarked, for it called for “much patience and mutual listening.” This happened in the community in Antioch “where the brethren, through dialogue—and even disagreements— resolved the question together.”
He recalled how Paul and Barnabas then went up to Jerusalem: “They did not settle the question on their own: they wanted to be in communion with the Mother Church and so they went there with humility.” In Jerusalem, he said, “they found Peter and the Apostles, who were prepared to listen to them” and “this was the beginning of a dialogue that, in the end, led to the right decision. Recognizing the difficulties of the new converts, they agreed not to impose excessive burdens on them, but rather to insist only on what was essential.”
Pope Leo said that “in this way, what might have seemed a problem became for everyone an opportunity for reflection and growth.”
He explained that “beyond the rich and interesting human dynamics of the event” the Acts of the Apostles also report “the words used by the brethren in Jerusalem to communicate their decisions to those in Antioch. They wrote: “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” (cf. Acts 15:28). In other words, they emphasized that the most important part of the entire event was listening to God’s voice, which made everything else possible.”
He said today’s Gospel (John 14: 23-29) “reaffirms this point. It assures us that we are not alone in making our decisions in life. The Spirit sustains us and shows us the way to follow, ‘teaching’ us and ‘reminding’ us of all that Jesus said.”
Pope Leo added “The more we let ourselves be convinced and transformed by the Gospel — allowing the power of the Spirit to purify our heart, to make our words straightforward, our desires honest and clear, and our actions generous—the more capable we are of proclaiming its message.”
He commended the fact that the diocese of Rome has been engaged in “the challenging process of listening” in recent years, “a process carried out at various levels: listening to the world around us to respond to its challenges, and listening within our communities to understand needs and to propose wise and prophetic initiatives of evangelization and charity.”
He said this “listening process” is “worthy of the history of this local church, which has shown, time and again, that it is able to ‘think big,’ unafraid to embark on bold projects and to confront new and challenging scenarios.” An example of this, he said, is the welcome the diocese of Rome is providing for the needs of pilgrims during the present Jubilee. He thanked them for making the city of Rome “appear to visitors, some of whom have travelled from far away, as a wide, open and welcoming home, and above all as a place of deep faith.”
“For my part,” Pope Leo said, “I would like to express my firm desire to contribute to this great ongoing process by listening to everyone as much as possible, in order to learn, understand and decide things together, as Saint Augustine would say, ‘as a Christian with you and a Bishop for you.’”
As their new bishop, Pope Leo said, “I would also ask you to support me in prayer and charity.” He told them he was “mindful of the words of Saint Leo the Great: ‘All the good we do in the exercise of our ministry is the work of Christ and not our own, for we can do nothing without him. Yet we glory in him, from whom all the effectiveness of our work is derived.’”
The pope of the Americas then surprised everyone by recalling the words that Blessed John Paul I, who was pope for only 33 days, said in his greeting to the diocese of Rome on Sept. 23, 1978, just five days before he died. The last Italian pope recalled that “Saint Pius X upon entering Venice as patriarch, exclaimed in Saint Mark’s: ‘What would become of me, dear Venetians, if I did not love you?,’” and he added, “I would say something similar to you Romans: I assure you that I love you, that I desire only to enter into your service and to place my own poor abilities, the little I have and am, at the service of all.”
Pope Leo concluded by telling the people living in the diocese of Rome, “I too express my affection for you and my desire to share with you, on our journey together, our joys and sorrows, our struggles and hopes. I too offer you ‘the little I have and am.’”
After greeting the crowds from the balcony of the Lateran Basilica, Pope Leo drove in the popemobile to St. Mary Major’s Basilica and, in the packed church, he prayed before the revered icon of Our Lady Protectress of the people of Rome (Salus Populi Romani), just as Pope Francis had done on more than 120 times during his more than 12 year papacy.
After praying in silence, he gave the people his blessing, and then went and prayed for some minutes at the tomb of Pope Francis, just as he did on the day after his election. As he prayed, the crowded church followed in silence. Afterwards, before returning to the Vatican, he greeted them from the balcony of the basilica, and encouraged them to be “witnesses of hope” in a world where there is so much suffering.
Thus ended a truly hectic day in the life of the American-born pope.
