VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV set the tone for his papacy on Sunday with a call to stop exploiting nature and marginalising the poor at a mass attended by world dignitaries including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US Vice President JD Vance.
Ten days after Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost became the first US head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, an estimated 200,000 people gathered to see his inaugural mass in St Peter’s Square.
The 69-year-old made his debut tour in a popemobile, smiling, waving energetically and blessing the cheering crowds at the Vatican.
In front of leaders including Zelensky and Vance, he then gave a homily where he called for the Church to be a transformational force in a world of division and hatred.
“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,” he said.
Prevost, who was made a cardinal only in 2023 and is unknown to many Catholics, has repeatedly emphasised the importance of peace and social justice in his first few days as pope.
Later on Sunday, he was due to hold his first private audience with Zelensky.
“The martyred Ukraine is waiting for negotiations for a just and lasting peace to finally happen,” Leo said during a prayer at the end of the ceremony.
Yona Tukuser, a 39-year-old artist from Odessa in Ukraine who was amongst the crowd in St Peter’s Square, said Leo was “a pope for peace” who would “work very hard to build a bridge for dialogue”.
Leo has made history as the first pontiff from the United States, and his home country was represented on Sunday by Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a Catholic.
Vance — the last world leader to meet with the late Pope Francis the day before he died last month — queued up to shake Leo’s hand along with the other dignitaries.
He did not have a private audience scheduled for Sunday but this could still happen as he is not due to return to Washington until Monday.
Maria Grazia La Barbera, 56, a pilgrim from Palermo in Sicily, said Leo was “the right person at the right time” to lead the Church.
“He will certainly do what he promised: knocking down walls and building bridges,” she said.
Before becoming pope, Leo reposted on his personal X account criticism of US President Donald Trump’s administration over its approach to migration and also pilloried Vance.
On Sunday, the pope — who spent many years as a missionary in Peru — warned against “closing ourselves off in our small groups”.
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