At inauguration Mass, Pope Leo calls for ‘united church’ in a wounded world

Launching his papacy with a call for reconciliation and communion, Pope Leo XIV formally began his ministry as the successor of St Peter by calling for ‘a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world’.

‘In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference and an economic paradigm that exploits the earth’s resources and marginalises the poorest,’ the new pope said in his homily during his inauguration Mass on Sunday 18 May.

In the one Christ, we are one.

‘For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion and fraternity within the world,’ he told the more than 200,000 people gathered in and around St Peter’s Square. ‘We want to say to the world, with humility and joy: Look to Christ! Come closer to him! Welcome his word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to his offer of love and become his one family: “In the one Christ, we are one.”’

A version of this quote from St Augustine is the pope’s episcopal motto and is featured on his coat of arms.

Representing the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference at the Mass were ACBC President Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB of Perth and Vice-President Bishop Greg Bennet of Sale. Also among the clergy concelebrating the Mass were Archbishop Peter A Comensoli of Melbourne, Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP of Sydney, President of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania Bishop Anthony Randazzo of Broken Bay, and Ukrainian Catholic Church Bishop, Cardinal Mykola Bychok.

Giving his impressions of the day on social media afterwards, Archbishop Comensoli said it had been a‘blessing to carry the faithful of Melbourne and your intentions to the Holy Father’s Inauguration Mass’, to see the ‘wonderful crowds of the faithful’ and to experience ‘a beautiful liturgy and a thoughtful and powerful homily. Viva il Papa!’

Archbishop Costelloe said the Mass had underlined the Pope’s message of peace and his role as a focal point of unity. ‘There’s an instinct in Catholics that we need that something that holds us together … That sense of unity with the Pope is important,’ he said. ‘I think it’s all about unity, communion, belonging together, supporting each other.’

Pope Leo has spoken about peace, and I think the world needs that voice, the voice of hope, the voice of truth, the voice of beauty ... he can bring that to us.

Archbishop Costelloe described the inauguration of Pope Leo’s papacy as ‘an exciting time’ for the Church. ‘We’re looking forward to seeing what he’s going to do next.’

Bishop Bennet sensed there was a great sense of joy in Australia about the new pope. ‘Pope Leo has spoken about peace, and I think the world needs that voice, the voice of hope, the voice of truth, the voice of beauty. I think he can bring that to us.

‘And I expect Pope Leo will continue to speak into the missionary aspect of the Church, and particularly issues of poverty, where people are marginalised, to be able to really encourage the world to see as themselves as brothers and sisters.’

Ecumenical and interreligious guests and more than 100 government delegations joined the new pope for Mass in St Peter’s Square. Australia was represented by Prime Minister the Hon Anthony Albanese and Australia’s ambassador-designate to the Holy See Keith Pitt.

The day before the Mass, the prime minister visited Domus Australia, a Rome guest house and chapel established by the Catholic Church in Australia, where he thanked Archbishops Comensoli and Fisher ‘for the warm welcome and the tour here of what is a very important and holy place for Australians who live in Rome and who visit the Holy city here.

‘Tomorrow will be a very special day,’ he said to the media, not only ‘for the 5 million Australians of Catholic faith’, but also for ‘the more than a billion world citizens who regard the inauguration tomorrow of Pope Leo as being so important for His Holiness.

‘It is a great honour for me to be here representing Australia,’ he said, adding that as part of his visit he would be inviting Pope Leo to visit Australia for the World Ecumenical Congress, which will be hosted by Australia in Sydney in 2028.

Among the Christian leaders present was Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, along with other delegations from the Orthodox churches, the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Methodist Council, the World Communion of Reformed Churches and various evangelical and Pentecostal communities. Representatives of the Jewish community as well as Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Zoroastrian and Jain traditions also were in attendance.

Before the Mass began, Pope Leo rode through the square in the popemobile for the first time since his election on 8 May, greeting the faithful as cheers of ‘Viva il papa!’ (‘Long live the pope!’) erupted from the crowd. He then entered the basilica to pray at the tomb of St Peter, accompanied by patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic churches.

Reflecting on the Gospel reading from St John—in which Jesus asks St Peter three times to tend to his sheep—Pope Leo said in his homily that the ministry of Peter is rooted not in authority for its own sake, but in love that serves and unites.

‘Peter is thus entrusted with the task of ‘loving more’ and giving his life for the flock,’ he said. ‘The ministry of Peter is distinguished precisely by this self-sacrificing love, because the Church of Rome presides in charity and its true authority is the charity of Christ.’

I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family.

The successor of St Peter, he said, ‘must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him.’ Instead, ‘he is called to serve the faith of his brothers and sisters, and to walk alongside them.’

Pope Leo also recalled the period of mourning following the death of Pope Francis, describing the conclave that followed the late pope’s death as ‘a moment of grace’.

‘I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family,’ he said.

‘With the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world,’ he said, calling for a Church that ‘proclaims the word, allows itself to be made “restless” by history and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.’

At the end of Mass, the Pope called for prayers for regions afflicted by war: Gaza, Myanmar and Ukraine, which ‘finally awaits negotiations for a just and lasting peace’.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was present for the Mass and met privately with the Pope later in the day.

Immediately after the Mass, Pope Leo met with several government representatives, including US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as Peruvian President Dina Boluarte. A native of Chicago, in the USA, the Pope spent more than 20 years in Peru as a missionary priest and bishop, and has Peruvian citizenship.