Pontiff requires peace and unity on the service, which attracts dignitaries from world wide.
Pope Leo XIV has met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his inaugural Mass within the Vatican, the place he delivered a message of affection and unity to a crowd of 200,000 pilgrims.
“We thank the Vatican for its willingness to function a platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. We’re prepared for dialogue in any format for the sake of tangible outcomes. We admire the assist for Ukraine and the clear voice in protection of a simply and lasting peace,” Zelenskyy posted on X.
No assertion has been issued by the Vatican but concerning Sunday’s assembly.
Leo, previously Cardinal Robert Prevost, was formally put in as the pinnacle of the Catholic Church at an outside Mass in St Peter’s Sq. with world leaders and European royalty in attendance.
In his sermon, Leo, the first American pope, referred to as for unity throughout the church, saying he wished it to behave as a pressure for peace on the earth.
“I would love that our first nice want be for a united church, an indication of unity and communion, which turns into a leaven for a reconciled world,” he stated.
“On this our time, we nonetheless see an excessive amount of discord, too many wounds brought on by hatred, violence, prejudice, the worry of distinction and an financial paradigm that exploits the Earth’s assets and marginalises the poorest.”
Leo stated he was assuming the function as chief of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics “with worry and trembling” and insisted he wouldn’t lead like “an autocrat”.
“It’s by no means a query of capturing others by pressure, by non secular propaganda or via energy. As a substitute, it’s all the time and solely a query of loving, as Jesus did,” he stated, in an obvious nod to the break up between conservative and liberal factions throughout the church.
‘The wealthy heritage of the Christian religion’
The 69-year-old pope, who was born in Chicago and spent years as a missionary in Peru, succeeds the late Pope Francis, whose 12-year tenure was marked by tensions with traditionalists throughout the church. In an obvious nod to conservatives, Leo stated he was dedicated to defending “the wealthy heritage of the Christian religion” and repeatedly used the phrases “unity” and “concord”.
Earlier than the ceremony, Leo took his first popemobile experience by means of St Peter’s Sq., waving to crowds cheering, “Viva il Papa.”
Dignitaries in attendance included the presidents of Israel, Peru and Nigeria; the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Australia; German Chancellor Friedrich Merz; and Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia.
The US delegation was led by Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic who had clashed with Francis over the White Home’s method to immigration. Vance shook arms with Zelenskyy in the beginning of the ceremony, in distinction to the earlier assembly between the 2 males and President Donald Trump in a fiery encounter in entrance of the world’s media on the White Home in February.
Leo prayed for the victims of the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza in his sermon, saying Ukraine was being “martyred” and lamenting that Palestinians had been being “decreased to hunger”.
