Tens of thousands gathered at St Peter’s Square on Sunday May 18th for Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration Mass. At the beginning of the celebration, both ring and pallium are taken from the chapel of St. Peter’s tomb, underneath the Basilica. This is where the pope prays before the inauguration Mass, out to the altar set up in St. Peter’s Square. He then was given the Ring of the Fisherman. This special ring is a symbol of his role and dates back to the time of Saint Peter who was a fisherman. He then received the pallium, a strip of lambswool, symbolising his role as a shepherd.

In his sermon, the pontiff called for unity within the church and said that the cardinals who elected him had sought 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.” “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,” he said.

Pope Leo also mentioned his concerns about the war in Ukraine in his prayer saying “the martyred Ukraine is waiting for negotiations for a just and lasting peace to finally happen”. Following the Mass, the new pontiff met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.