Pope Leo gives inauguration Mass attended by world figures
Pope Leo XIV gave his inauguration Mass as the new head of the Catholic Church in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Sunday, with world figures, including U.S. Vice President JD Vance, attending.
“It is the hour of love,” the 267th pontiff said during the service, calling to build a Catholic Church that “opens its arms to the world.” The first American in the role, Pope Leo XIV was elected on May 8 to succeed the late Pope Francis.
“Love and unity: these are the two dimensions of the mission entrusted to (the disciple) Peter by Jesus,” he stressed in his homily.
Pope Leo XIV gives his inaugural Mass in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican on May 18, 2025.(Getty/Kyodo)
The Japanese government has sent former Prime Minister Taro Aso, a Catholic and top advisor to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, to the event to help “deepen friendly and cooperative ties” with the Vatican.
The pope visited Japan’s Nagasaki in 2008, when he was known as Robert Prevost, to attend the beatification of 188 Japanese martyrs by Pope Benedict XVI, according to Catholics in the southwestern city.
Pope Leo XIV (L,C) waves to the crowd from the popemobile in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on May 18, 2025, prior to his inaugural Mass later in the day. (Kyodo)
Father Futoshi Matsuo of Shiroyama Catholic Church in the city, one of the local Catholics who met him then, said, “He was a person who listened warmly to what others had to say, rather than speak himself.”
“I am sure he will continue to set an example by practicing peace building through dialogue,” Matsuo said.
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