Pope Leo Calls for a United Church at His Inauguration Mass

VATICAN CITY—Pope Leo XIV, in his inaugural Mass as pontiff, called for a united and open Catholic Church before an audience that included political and religious leaders looking for smoother relations with the Vatican.

“Brothers and sisters, I would like this to be our first great wish: a united church, a sign of unity and communion,” said Leo, speaking in Italian. “Let us build a church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary church that opens its arms to the world.”

The Chicago-born pope’s words were in keeping with his pontificate so far: He has signaled continuity with his predecessor Pope Francis’ championing of the poor and marginalized, but with less of the fractiousness between the church’s progressive and conservative wings.

About 200,000 people packed onto St. Peter’s Square for the outdoor Mass, which marks the formal start of Leo’s pontificate. Scores of VIPs from around the world, including monarchs and prime ministers, sat on the raised part of the piazza near St. Peter’s Basilica.

The attendance of some of those leaders reflected the desire for a fresh start with Leo after frictions with his predecessor. The high-profile U.S. delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio , who are both Catholic, was another sign of Washington’s outreach to the Vatican after Pope Francis clashed with the Trump administration over its immigration policies early this year. Leo, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, had joined Francis’ criticism.

Pope Leo XIV arrives on the popemobile for his inaugural Mass at the Vatican, May 18, 2025. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was also present on Sunday, as he was for Francis’ funeral in late April, when he held brief talks with President Trump inside the Renaissance-era basilica. Kyiv was sometimes frustrated by Pope Francis’ neutral, sometimes even Russia-sympathetic tone on the Russia-Ukraine war.

As a bishop and cardinal, Robert Prevost—now Pope Leo—took a more clear-cut stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling it an attempt at imperial conquest in 2022. Leo’s first official call to a foreign leader as pope was to Zelensky, and on Sunday he used words that chimed with Kyiv’s criteria for ending the war: “Ukraine is finally waiting for negotiations for a just and lasting peace.”

The Vatican has said it’s open to hosting peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow, although an agreement still appears distant . The church’s potential role in the conflict, such as facilitating possible prisoner exchanges, was the focus of discussions between Vatican officials and Rubio on Saturday.

“I wouldn’t call it a broker,” Rubio said of the Vatican. “But it’s certainly a place where both sides would be comfortable coming.”

Israel’s head of state, President Isaac Herzog , attended Leo’s inauguration, in contrast to Francis’ funeral, where senior Israeli officials were notably absent.

Jewish-Catholic relations suffered under Francis , who repeatedly condemned Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, at one point suggesting it might constitute genocide against Palestinians. Leo has also spoken about the suffering of the people of Gaza, but he has been more measured in his choice of words.

Nuns look on, on the day Pope Leo XIV holds his inaugural Mass at the Vatican, May 18, 2025. REUTERS/Matteo Minnella REFILE – CORRECTING ROMAN NUMERALS TO “XIV”. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

After becoming pope, Leo quickly turned his attention to the Jewish community, pledging to “strengthen the Church’s dialogue and cooperation with the Jewish people” in a letter last week to Rabbi Noam Marans, the head of interreligious affairs at the American Jewish Committee.

The letter cited a landmark document from the 1960s called Nostra Aetate, or In Our Time, that laid the foundation for a Jewish-Catholic relationship based on mutual respect. Marans was one of several representatives of the Jewish community who attended Sunday’s inauguration.

Before the Mass, Leo toured St. Peter’s Square on the back of his popemobile for the first time, waving to the cheering crowd.

Joel McMichael, a seminarian from Texas, said he was excited to witness the inauguration of the first American leader of the 2,000-year-old church.

“There is a sense of honor in that, and happiness,” he said. “I have a certain hope for unity and strength going forward. In the world there is a lot of division, and in the church as well.”

The inauguration Mass is the vestige of the historic enthronement ceremony, during which popes were crowned with an elaborate golden tiara. Popes stopped wearing the tiara after 1964, to emphasize their spiritual role over the temporal power that pontiffs wielded for centuries.

Other symbols of papal authority persist. During Sunday’s ceremony, Leo was given his Fisherman’s Ring, which shows St. Peter on a boat symbolically fishing men for their salvation. Popes wear the golden ring until their death. Leo was also fitted with a pallium, a white, cross-shaped woolen band symbolizing his role as a shepherd of the church’s flock.

Leo has been more accepting of the pomp and tradition that come with his new job than Francis, who was known for his informality and occasional irreverence. Leo is expected to move into the official papal residence in the Apostolic Palace, which has been vacant for over 12 years. Throughout his pontificate, Francis opted for more low-key accommodation in the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse.

Write to Margherita Stancati at margherita.stancati@wsj.com