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Inaugural Mass

Pope Leo XIV waves during the inaugural Mass of his pontificate, held in St. Peter’s Square on May 18, 2025. He stands in front of a Flemish tapestry depicting the dialogue between Jesus and Peter after the miraculous catch of fish. / Credit: Vatican Media

A Papacy Begins: Pope Leo XIV Calls for United Church at His Inauguration Eucharistic Celebration

May 18, 2025

Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pontiff, began his papacy with a richly-symbolic inaugural Mass, celebrated at the Vatican before a crowd of 150,00 people.

Pope Leo XIV acknowledged divisions among the faithful with a call for fraternal communion and unity in the homily at his inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square on May 18, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Leo XIV’s Homily at Inauguration Mass Beginning His Petrine Ministry: Full Text

May 18, 2025

Pope Leo XIV delivered this homily at the Mass for the Initiation of the Petrine Ministry on Sunday, May 18, after being elected the 266th successor of St. Peter on May 8.

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Pope Leo XIV greets people as he arrives for a two-week stay in the summer papal estate in Castel Gandolfo, 40 km southeast of Rome, on July 6, 2025. The newly elected Pope Leo XIV, revives a long-standing papal tradition paused under Francis, as Castel Gandolfo prepares to welcome a pope for the first time in over a decade. / Credit: ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images

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