A flash of green on a white square. On May 18, just before 10 am, a Nigerian nun dances in St Peter’s Square, waving a scarf in the colors of her country as the popemobile makes its way through the crowd. Pope Leo XIV waves to the faithful. The scene is familiar: cheers, flags, a pause to kiss a baby. As he travels up the Via della Conciliazione, the new pope evokes memories of past moments, like Pope Francis’ first turn through the square in 2013. But Leo XIV is not staging a replay. May 18 is quiet, even understated. No dramatic gestures. No exaggerated smiles. Just a man in white, with a steady gaze, relaxed and taking his time to greet the people.
Another memory surfaces also tied to Francis: his final ride through the square on Apr 20, the eve of his death. Leo XIV begins his homily by invoking him: “These past days have been especially intense. The death of Pope Francis filled our hearts with sorrow. In these difficult hours, we felt like the crowds described in the Gospel ‘like sheep without a shepherd,’” he says, noting the spiritual presence of his predecessor on this day. He also recalled Francis’ funeral, when then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, seated in red to the left of the altar, remained nearly invisible among the cardinal-electors.
‘People of God’
Yet another image rises: the crowd cheering him today “Go Pope!” shout Americans; “Leone! Leone!” chant Italians. The same crowd gathered in silence just 10 days earlier, watching for white smoke. But something has shifted. The people were no longer waiting, they were walking with him. As the successor of Peter entered the square, rolling rather than walking, he moved among his people. The scene was broadcast on large screens outside the basilica, where the Mass was translated into sign language. It was a concrete and straightforward expression of the ecclesiology Leo XIV is gradually bringing to life.
In his homily, the new pope addresses the crowd: “I come to you as a brother who desires to be a servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, who wills that we all be united as one family.”
This vision draws unmistakably from the Second Vatican Council, whose legacy Leo XIV invoked in his May 9 address to the cardinals: “The mission entrusted to Peter is not to wield power alone, but to serve the faith of the entire people.” That “people of God” is a central idea from Lumen Gentium (1964), a foundational Vatican II document affirming that all the baptized not just clergy, share in the Church’s mission.
On May 18, Leo XIV made that theology visible in the liturgy itself. Unlike previous papal inauguration Masses, where the “oath of obedience” is typically reserved for clergy, this celebration widened the circle. The rite began at 10 a.m. near the tomb of the Apostle Peter. Leo XIV did not kneel, but stood among representatives of the Eastern Catholic Churches, signaling as he told the patriarchs on May 14 that their traditions are not “secondary adornments.”
The pope then returned to the square. Wearing a simple mitre, papal tiaras were abandoned in 1964, he stood as a bishop among bishops. In front of diplomats and numerous interfaith leaders, he blessed the crowd.
A reconciled world
The readings were proclaimed in several languages, including those spoken fluently by the pope: the Acts of the Apostles (4:8–12) in Spanish; the First Letter of Peter (5:1–5, 10–11) in English; and the psalm in Italian.
The cardinals who presented him with the symbols of papal authority, the pallium and the fisherman’s ring were drawn from three continents: Cardinal Mario Zenari of Italy, nuncio to Syria; Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines. To close this tribute to the church’s global identity, lay members of the “people of God” came forward to the altar.
Leo XIV warmly shook hands at the top of the steps with Catholics pledging their obedience. First, three cardinals. Then, a bishop from the Peruvian Diocese of Callao, which Leo XIV once administered. Then, there was a Peruvian priest, an Italian deacon, and finally, a woman with short hair and a blue blouse. The pope smiled, held her hand, and exchanged words with Sister Oonah O’Shea, superior of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion and newly elected president of the International Union of Superiors General. Next came her male counterpart, an Italo-Peruvian couple, and two young people, including a student at the John Paul II Pontifical Institute in Rome.
Later in his homily, Leo XIV emphasized again: “The church is made up of all who live in harmony with their brothers and sisters, and who love their neighbors. This, brothers and sisters, should be our first great desire: a united church, a sign of unity and communion, becoming leaven for a reconciled world.”
“In our time,” he added somberly, “we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, fear of the other, by an economic model that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poor.”
In his final blessing, Leo XIV, who has long defended the church’s engagement in social and political issues, made a point to remember “our brothers and sisters … children and elders” suffering from hunger in Gaza, the “young lives shattered” in Myanmar, and “a martyred Ukraine,” a phrase first used by Francis.
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Political delegations from over 100 countries
Before the Mass, the pope met with Dina Boluarte, president of Peru. After the celebration, he held a private conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Leo XIV did not meet privately with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, though he greeted him along with all other delegation members at the end of the celebration.
France was represented by Prime Minister François Bayrou; Élisabeth Borne, minister of education; and Catherine Vautrin, minister of labor, health and solidarity.
He also recalled the beatification the day before, in Chambéry, of French priest Camille Costa de Beauregard, known as the “father of orphans.” And as he concluded, Leo XIV returned to the theme from the night of his election: “I want to issue a call for a just and lasting peace.” – La Croix International
