Pope Leo Receives Fisherman’s Ring and Pallium During Inauguration Mass, Marking Official Start of His Papacy

Pope Leo XIV‘s inauguration is here.

The celebratory Mass began on Sunday, May 18, at 10 a.m. local time in St. Peter’s Square and saw a range of global leaders and dignitaries gathering for the new pontiff.

The service marks the official start of Leo’s papacy just under a month after the death of his predecessor, Pope Francis.

The ceremony began with a procession from St. Peter’s Basilica — where Leo and other church leaders visited St. Peter’s tomb to pray — to St. Peter’s Square, where the Inauguration Mass was held.

Pope Leo XIV prayed before sprinkling water towards those gathered for the mass as a remembrance of baptism. Following “The Gloria” hymn of praise, more prayers and several readings from the Bible were shared.

As part of the rites, Leo received the ring of the fisherman from Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle — a symbol of the pontiff’s authority and reference to Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, regarded as the first pope — as well as the pallium, a white vestment traditionally worn by the pope.

The pallium  — a strip of lambswool  — was placed on Leo’s shoulders with three pins representing his role as a shepherd and the nails of Christ’s crucifixion.

The choir sang in Greek before a couple representing marriage approached the Pope, and two children representing all the children of the world paid tribute to him.

He went on to greet all those gathered “with a heart full of gratitude” before sharing a message written by St. Augustus. He then noted how the death of Pope Francis filled “our hearts with sadness.”

Leo said he was “chosen with no merit of my own” to become the new leader of the Catholic church as the Conclave was placed in “God’s hands.” Among his intentions, he shared in the homily a desire to be a “servant of your faith and joy” and for the church to be united amid a time of “violence, prejudice, fear of difference and an economic paradigm that exploits the world’s resources and marginalizes the poorest.”

Pope Leo led prayers before attendees received communion at the inaugural mass. He noted that the “spiritual presence of Pope Francis” could be felt throughout.

Dignitaries in attendance included Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh and brother to King Charles, as well as Vice President J.D. Vance, whom the pope had been critical of before being elected, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Pope Leo — previously known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost — was born in Chicago and holds dual citizenship between the United States and Peru.

He is the first pope from the United States.

Leo was elected on Thursday, May 8, following just three rounds of voting during a two-day conclave in the wake of Francis’ death — from a stroke — on April 21.

The new pontiff’s first public address, in early May, included gratitude to his predecessor, his “brother cardinals” and his home diocese in Chiclayo and focused primarily on a message of peace.

Leo stressed that all are welcome and “evil will not prevail,” he said to a packed St. Peter’s Square.