By Michael AMAJAMA with Agency
Pope Leo XIV has taken aim at autocrats causing war and unrest across the globe, in his first speech during his inauguration as the head of the Catholic Church on Sunday.
Addressing hundreds of thousands of well-wishers, including dozens of world leaders including President Bola Tinubu, and European royalty, during a mass in St Peter’s Square, Leo said he believed his role as the new pontiff was to “shield the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him”.
He said he wanted to be a servant to the faithful through the two dimensions of the papacy: love and unity.
“I would like our first great desire to be for a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world,” the Pontiff was quoted as saying by the Independent UK.
He added that the world “must not close itself off into small groups”. “We are called to offer God’s love to everyone in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel our differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people,” he said.
“Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love. The heart of the gospel is the love of God that makes us brothers and sisters. With my predecessor Leo XIII, we can ask ourselves today, if this criterion were to prevail in the world, would not every conflict cease and peace return?
“Let us build a church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity for a missionary church that opens its arms to the world.”
Father Ed Tomlinson, the chief priest running St Anselm’s Penubury in Tunbridge Wells, said the speech showed that Pope Leo wanted to “govern daily from the centre of the authentic church”.
“This is a man who wants to heal the church and world but who knows, crucially, this cannot happen without the fruit and proof of an authentic Christian witness,” he said.
“Thus, any message delivered by the church today must come from a place of authentic lived holiness and genuine love. This will be the key message of his papacy: be authentic and loving in your faith.”
Professor Rocco D’Ambrosio, a lecturer at Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, who wrote a book about Pope Francis, described the homily as “very touching”. “In a few words, it covered love, humility, unity and brotherhood respecting all the differences,” he said.
The pontiff took his first popemobile ride through St Peter’s Square this morning, greeting the crowds who joined presidents, patriarchs and princes for the formal installation ceremony of history’s first American pope. An estimated 250,000 people are expected to have turned out for the event.
The bells of St Peter’s Basilica tolled as Leo waved from the back of the open-topped truck that looped slowly through the square and then up and down the boulevard.
The crowd cheered “Viva il Papa” and waved plenty of Peruvian, American and Holy See flags — representing Leo’s nationalities — mixed in with flags of other nations, banners and umbrellas to shield pilgrims from the springtime sun.
Security was tight as civil protection crews in neon uniforms funnelled pilgrims into quadrants in the piazza while priests hurried into St Peter’s Basilica to get ready for the mass.
Born in Chicago, the 69-year-old pontiff spent many years as a missionary in Peru and also has Peruvian citizenship. As well as becoming the first American pope, he is the first to have Peruvian citizenship.
Robert Prevost, a relative unknown on the world stage who only became a cardinal two years ago, was elected pope on 8 May after a short conclave of cardinals that lasted just 24 hours.
He replaces Pope Francis, from Argentina, who died on 21 April after leading the church for 12 often turbulent years during which he battled with traditionalists and championed the poor and marginalised.
