Introduction in Rome: Pope warns of unity and complains about capitalism and war

Pope Leo XIV was officially introduced to office with a solemn mass in front of around 100,000 people on St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The new head of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide warned its church to cohesion in its first sermon. At the same time, he criticized an economic model that yields the resources of the world and pushed the poorest to the edge.

With the fair, the American Robert Francis Prevost now got all the insignia of his office. After a prayer at the grave of the apostle Peter in St. Peter’s Basilica, he received the traditional fishing ring and the pallium, a kind of scarf. The ring is reminded of Peter, who was a fisherman. According to the Catholic theory of faith, Leo, as the deputy of Christ on earth, is also supposed to act as a “human fisherman”.

State guests from all over the world

As the successor to Pope Francis, the 69-year-old is the first Cardinal of the first American at the head of the Catholic Church. From his time as a missionary and bishop in Peru, he also has the citizenship of the South American country. Peruvian head of state Dina Boluarte was among the guests of honor of the inauguration, as was US Vice President JD Vance.

Dozens of presidents, heads of government and high -ranking representatives of royal homes and other churches took part in the fair. There was talk of more than 150 delegations in total. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) was there for Germany.

New Pontifex: “Come to you with fear and tremors”

Leo was humble in his preaching in Italian. “I was selected without any earnings and come to you with fear and tremors,” he confessed. Then he emphasized the unity of the Church as his greatest wish: “Dear brothers and sisters, I would like this that this is our first great desire: a united church.”

He alluded to the directional fights within the Catholic World Church. The reformers – which also include the majority of the German bishops – are pushing for a more liberal sexual morality and the opening of church offices for women. The conservatives, on the other hand, want to maintain traditional teaching unchanged and reject blessings for homosexual couples. In Germany, the church has been losing members for many years.

In line with predecessor Francis

Leo himself is considered a moderate bridge builder (literally: Pontifex), who can convey between the different camps. It is widely assumed that he was also chosen so surprisingly quickly by the conclave. The choice did not even take 24 hours.

The first Pope from the USA made it clear in his sermon that he sees himself in the line of his Argentine predecessor Francis, who had campaigned for people on the sidelines of society, especially for people. “In our time we still experience too much discord, too many wounds that are caused by hate, violence, prejudices, fear of the other and by an economic model that exploits the resources of the earth and pushes the poorest to the edge,” said Leo.

First drive with the papamobil

In doing so, he explicitly occupied other positions than his compatriot, US President Donald Trump. Francis also emphasized in the sermon in his introduction in 2013 that the Church of the “poorest, weakest, lowest” had to take care of and appealed to preserve creation.

Before the start of the fair, the new Pope had turned a round in the papamobile for the first time through the crowd on St. Peter’s Square. In contrast to Francis, who mostly remained sitting towards the end of his term, he stood upright. Numerous US flags were also seen in the crowd, but also Peruvian flags.

Leo is the 267th Pope in two thousands of church history. According to the Catholic teaching, he is the successor to the apostle Peter and deputy of Jesus Christ on earth. He is also Bishop of Rome, Primas of Italy and head of state of the Vatican. He doesn’t have great world power. But it is a moral authority for many people.