Pope Leo XIV offers message of unity for polarized Catholic Church as pontificate officially starts

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV vowed Sunday to work for unity in a polarized Catholic Church and world, as history's first American pope offered a message of healing during an inaugural Mass in St. Peter's Square before an estimated 200,000 pilgrims, presidents, patriarchs and princes.

Leo officially opened his pontificate by taking his first popemobile tour through the piazza, a rite of passage that has become synonymous with the papacy's global reach and mediatic draw. The 69-year-old Augustinian missionary smiled and waved from the back of the truck to people waving U.S., Peruvian and other national flags, and stopped to bless some babies in the crowd.

During the Mass, Leo appeared to choke up when the two potent symbols of the papacy were placed on him — the lambswool stole over his shoulders and the fisherman's ring on his finger — as if the weight of responsibility of leading the 1.4-billion strong church had just sunk in.

He turned his hand to look at the ring and then clasped his hands in front of him in prayer.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, one of the last foreign officials to see Pope Francis before he died, led the American delegation honoring the Chicago-born Leo. Vance paid his respects at Francis' tomb after arriving in Rome late Saturday.

The theme of Leo's papacy

In his homily, Leo said that he wanted to be a servant to the faithful through the two dimensions of the papacy, love and unity, so that the church could be a force for peace in the world.

His words echoed some of Francis' key priorities, but his call for unity was significant, given the polarization in the Catholic Church in the United States and beyond.

Francis' radical 12-year pontificate, which emphasized care for the poor and marginalized, and disdain for the capitalist economic system, often alienated conservatives who begged for a new pope who could pacify divisions. Leo's election on May 8, after a remarkably quick 24-hour conclave, appears to have pleased conservative Catholics who seem to appreciate his more disciplined, traditional style and Augustinian background, emphasizing core truths of Catholic doctrine.

Leo drove that message home by wearing the papacy's formal red cape, or mozzetta, to receive Vance and official government delegations after the Mass. Francis had eschewed many of the formalities of the papacy as part of his simple style, but Leo's return to the traditional garb has pleased conservatives and traditionalists, who breathed a sigh of relief when he came out onto the the loggia wearing the red cape on May 8.

But Leo did break protocol when he gave his older brother, Louis Prevost, a self-described political ''MAGA-type,'' a bear hug in the basilica when he and his wife came up to greet the pope.

''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,'' Leo said.

Strict diplomatic protocol dictated the seating arrangements at the inaugural Mass, with both the U.S. and Peru getting front-row seats thanks to Leo's dual citizenship. Vance, a Catholic convert who tangled with Francis over the Trump administration's mass migrant deportation plans, was joined by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived in Rome ahead of time to try to advance Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte was one of around a dozen heads of state who attended, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russia had planned to send its culture minister, but was represented by its ambassador, reports said.

Diplomatic protocol also dictated the dress code: While most wore black, a handful of Catholic royals — Queen Letizia of Spain and Princess Charlene of Monaco, among others — wore white in a special privilege allowed them. Three dozen of the world's other Christian churches sent representatives, the Jewish community had a 13-member delegation, half of them rabbis. Other representatives headed Buddhist, Muslim, Zoroastrian, Hindu, Sikh and Jain delegations.

Security was tight, as it was for Francis' funeral on April 26, which drew an estimated 250,000 people. The Vatican said that 200,000 were on hand Sunday in the piazza and surrounding streets, parks and piazzas, where giant television screens and portable toilets were set up.

At the end of the Mass, Leo expressed hope for negotiations to bring a ''just and lasting peace'' in Ukraine and offered prayers for the people of Gaza — children, families and older people who are ''reduced to starvation,'' he said. Leo made no mention of hostages taken by Hamas from southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, as Francis usually did when praying for Gaza.

Americans are rejoicing

Susan Hanssen, a professor who was born in Chicago and just arrived in Rome to teach, said that she thought Leo's homily about unity would resonate in the U.S. and beyond.

''I think he will inspire,'' she said after the Mass. ''What I particularly loved was the phrasing, unity within the doctrine of the faith, and then in love.''

U.S. seminarian Ethan Menning, 21, from Omaha, Nebraska, wrapped himself in an American flag, purchased at a truck stop in Iowa, to celebrate.

''Rome always felt like home for a Catholic, but now coming here and seeing one of our own on the throne of Peter ... it almost makes Jesus himself more accessible,'' he said.

Gregory and Susan Hudak, who lived for 40 years in the Chicago area, found themselves in Rome after booking a trip in February, with just a faint hope of perhaps glimpsing the pope. Seeing the popemobile pass by in front of them, with Leo on board, was even better than watching Michael Jordan play, said Gary Hudak, a former altar boy wearing a Chicago Bears hat.

''Originally, the only hope I had coming here was to see the inside of the Sistine Chapel," he said. "Seeing the pope was not scheduled, it was a long-shot hope. And this was a treasure, simple as that.''

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Giovanna Dell'Orto, David Biller and Isaia Monteleone contributed to this report.

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