Dispatch from Rome: ‘This Is the Hour for Love.’ The Inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV

While I thought the crowds for the proclamation of “Habemus Papam” some ten days ago were intense, there were three times as many in St. Peter’s Square this morning for the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV. The Vatican estimated there were over 200,000 in attendance, and the crowds extended well beyond the square, all the way down the Via della Conciliazione to the Tiber and the Castel Sant’Angelo.

I have had the privilege of attending many a Mass in the piazza—John Paul II’s 25th anniversary Mass, the canonization of Padre Pio, Easter Mass with Pope Francis in 2022 just after COVID, to name a few—but I don’t recall ever arriving three hours early, and I still was too late to get a seat! (Granted, this was largely due to this being a non-ticketed event and the organizers putting out far fewer chairs than the above-mentioned Masses. Still, there were tons of people there early, and the security screenings started almost a mile away from the piazza.)

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On the plus side, with fewer rows of chairs, many more people were able to get into the square itself. On the flip side, everyone around me ended up standing for over five hours as we baked in the sun. Still, we all felt privileged to be there, and I didn’t hear anyone complain. Nevertheless, after the Mass was over, I sat down in one of the empty chairs just to rest my feet. I dozed lightly while listening to the bells, then left the square in search of water and a panini. (When you start the walk to St. Peter’s around 6:30 a.m. and you get caught up in the flow of people hustling to get in line, there isn’t time to stop for the typical Italian breakfast of an espresso and a cornetto.)

An hour before the Mass, Leo entered the square for his first ride in the open-topped “Popemobile.” He not only had the Popemobile meander through the square, he also had it drive down the length of the Via della Conciliazione to welcome the crowds who couldn’t make it into the square itself. (Having sat way down there near the Castel Sant'Angelo once for the beatification of Mother Teresa, I appreciated this act of including those in the peripheries. Nice touch!) And though the reserved Leo doesn’t yet have the ebullience of Francis, from what I could tell from watching the jumbo screen, he did have the Popemobile stop at least twice so he could bless babies.

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“Loving as Jesus Did”

While Leo technically became pope the moment he accepted his election in the Sistine Chapel, today’s Mass of inauguration marks the formal beginning of his papacy. Fortunately, in my opinion, there is no more “crowning.” The last time that happened was with Paul VI in 1963. (In 2005, Benedict went a step further and removed the tiara from his papal coat of arms, replacing it with a mitre.) And fortunately, again in my opinion, there is no more use of the “sedia gestoria" (when the popes were carried on a ceremonial throne lifted high above the crowds by their chamberlains, a theatrically stunning move that projects an imperial papacy). I believe this was last used by John Paul I in 1978.

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Still, though there was no crowning, Leo was given his fisherman’s ring, and a pallium was placed on his shoulders. The pallium is a sash that represents the yoke of Christ, while its pure lambswool represents the lost and weak sheep that the Good Shepherd carries on his shoulders. Fittingly, the cover of the booklet for the Mass featured this theme that was in today’s gospel: the resurrected Jesus charging Peter to care for his sheep. Even more fittingly, in his sermon, and keeping with the focus recent popes have placed on the role of the pope as a shepherd and a servant to the servants of God rather than as a king, Leo declared that the ministry of Peter is “always and only a question of loving as Jesus did.”

As I noted with reference to the special Mass invoking the Holy Spirit’s guidance of the cardinals entering the conclave, the rite for this Mass of inauguration is seldom heard, this being only the third installation of a pope since 1978, so hearing the special prayers and precisely selected readings is a treat. And though I should be able to attend Leo’s first public audience this Wednesday, alas, I won’t be able to stay for the last act of the inauguration of a new pope: his formally taking possession of his chair (cathedra) as Bishop of Rome in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. That will be next Sunday.

Leo’s sermon concluded with a focus on a call to unity and love with an emphasis on being a missionary and inclusive church. In case you didn’t get a chance to hear it and his call, “this is the hour for love,” let me conclude by citing the last few paragraphs: