Pope Leo XIV takes first popemobile ride through St. Peter's Square

Tens of thousands of people streamed into St Peters Square early Sunday to inaugurate Pope Leo XIVs pontificate joining presidents and princes in celebrating historys first American pope with a formal installation ceremony that blends ancient ritual evocative symbols and a nod to modernday celebrityStarting at dawn civil protection crews in neon uniforms funnelled pilgrims into quadrants in the piazza while priests and patriarchs hurried into St Peters Basilica to get ready for the MassUS Vice President JD Vance one of the last foreign officials to see Pope Francis before he died paid his respects at the Argentine popes tomb upon arriving in Rome late Saturday and was heading the US delegation honouring the Chicagoborn LeoLeo will start the day by taking his first tour through the piazza in the popemobile The opentopped vehicle has become synonymous with the papacys global reach and mediatic draw used at home and abroad to bring popes close to their flock It was here that Francis took his last popemobile ride on Easter Sunday and it was on the back of a popemobile that Francis casket was brought across Rome last month to its final resting placeLeo a 69yearold Augustinian missionary elected May 8 after a 24hour conclave seems a bit more timid than Francis But all eyes will be on how he manages the throngs of pilgrims tourists and curiosityseekers and the babies who will inevitably be passed up to him for him to blessAfter the festive public tour in the square Leo goes into the basilica to begin the solemn ceremony to inaugurate his ministry in a series of rites that emphasise the service that hes called to perform in leading the Catholic Church He prays first at the tomb of St Peter considered to be the first pope under the basilicas main altar and then processes out into the piazza for the MassStrict diplomatic protocol dictates the seating arrangements with both the United States and Peru getting frontrow seats thanks to Leos dual citizenship Vance a Catholic convert who tangled with Francis over the Trump administrations mass migrant deportation plans is being joined by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio who arrived in Rome ahead of time to try to advance RussiaUkraine peace talksPeruvian President Dina Boluarte is one of around a dozen heads of state attending as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy US seminarian Ethan Menning 21 from Omaha Nebraska wrapped himself in an American flag purchased at a truck stop in Iowa to celebrateldquoRome 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 accessiblerdquo he saidKalen Hill a pilgrim from the US got to St Peters soon after the gates opened Sunday morning and said he never expected an American would lead the 14billionstrong churchldquoI would say all the Americans are emotional about itrdquo he said ldquoIt is really powerful for American Catholics who sometimes feel separated from the world church to be brought in and included in this community through Pope LeordquoDuring the Mass Leo will receive the two potent symbols of the papacy the lambswool stole known as a pallium and the fishermans ring The pallium draped across his shoulders symbolises the pastor carrying his flock as the pope carries the faithful The ring which becomes Leos official seal harks back to Jesus call to the apostle Peter to cast his fishing netsThe other symbolically important moment of the Mass is the representational rite of obedience to Leo Whereas in the past all cardinals would vow obedience to the new pope more recent papal installations involve representatives of cardinals bishops priests deacons nuns married couples and young people participating in the riteAnother change from the past is that Sundays Mass isnt a coronation ceremony which used to involve the pope receiving a tiara but is merely known as a ldquoEucharistic Celebration for the start of the Petrine ministry of the Bishop of RomerdquoIn the days since his historic election Leo has already sketched out some of his key priorities as pope In his first foreign policy address he said the Holy Sees three pillars of diplomacy were peace justice and truth In his first major economics address he emphasised the Catholic Churchs social doctrine and the search for truth Its not known if hell use his installation homily as a mission statement as some of his predecessors didIn his October 22 1978 installation homily St John Paul II uttered a phrase that became something of a refrain of his pontificate and the ones that followed ldquoBe not afraid Open wide the doors to ChristrdquoPope Benedict XVI quoted his predecessor during his installation homily on April 25 2005 and offered a meditation on the symbols of church unity represented by the pallium and fishermans ring Francis installation homily on March 19 2013 focused on the need to protect the environment an early hint of what would become one of the priorities of his pontificateLeo has vowed all efforts to find peaceful ends to the wars in Ukraine Gaza and elsewhere But as a priority he has also identified the challenges to humanity posed by artificial intelligence making the parallel to the challenges to human dignity posed by the industrial revolution that were confronted by his namesake Pope Leo XIII who was pope from 1878ndash1903After the homily and at the end of the Mass Leo will offer a final blessing and then go into the basilica to greet the heads of the more than 150 official delegations attending Security was tight as it was for Francis funeral on April 26 which drew an estimated 250000 people Rome authorities are planning for another 250000 on Sunday The piazza and main boulevard leading to it and two nearby piazzas were set up with giant television screens and dozens of portable toilets have been erected in a nearby parkThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params