“I assure you that I love you, that I desire only to enter into your service and to place my own poor abilities, the little I have and am.” In his first homily for the possession of the Chair as Bishop of Rome at the Papal Basilica of St John Lateran, Pope Leo XIV echoed the words of Blessed John Paul I, the “Smiling Pope”. Following in Pope Francis’ footsteps, he celebrated the maternal qualities of his diocese, such as tenderness, self-sacrifice, and the capacity to listen. Moments earlier, in Piazza dell’Aracoeli at the foot of the Capitoline Hill steps, the city of Rome paid tribute to the new Pope with a ceremony presided over by Mayor Roberto Gualtieri. This ancient tradition had been interrupted after the death of Pope John Paul I in 1978, but Pope Prevost decided to revive it.
“Today I can say that with you and for you, I am Roman!”.
With these words, Pope Leo XIV greeted the city, echoing the sentiments he had expressed during his first address from St Peter’s balcony, a message he repeated in his homily at the Lateran Basilica. After celebrating Mass, the Pope appeared on the central balcony of the Basilica of St John Lateran.
“Let us live our faith, especially during this Jubilee Year, in search of hope; but seeking to be ourselves the witness that offers hope to the world. A world that suffers a great deal of pain due to wars, violence and poverty!” his invitation to the faithful, in unscripted remarks.
He addressed the faithful again from the balcony of St Mary Major Basilica, after having first stopped to pray before the icon of the Blessed Virgin Salus Populi Romani, and at the tomb of Pope Francis.
“Let us walk together in the Church, united as one family of God.”
The intense Sunday of the Holy Father thus reached its conclusion, having begun with the first Regina Caeli from the window of the Apostolic Palace, calling for a courageous commitment to peace, accompanied by crowds at every stop, including during his journey in the popemobile from one basilica to the other.
“The Church of Rome is heir to a great history, grounded in the witness of Peter, Paul and countless martyrs, and it has a unique mission, as we see from the inscription on the façade of this Cathedral: to be Mater omnium Ecclesiarum, Mother of all the Churches.”
This image opened the Pope’s homily at Mass inaugurating his ministry as Bishop of Rome, in the Basilica of St. John Lateran. “Pope Francis frequently encouraged us to reflect on the maternal dimension of the Church and her defining qualities”, his description of the Church of Rome, in the footsteps of his predecessor: “tenderness, self-sacrifice and the capacity to listen. Those qualities enable her not only to assist others but often to anticipate their needs and expectations before they are even expressed. We hope that those qualities will be increasingly present in the people of God everywhere, including here, in our great diocesan family: in the faithful, in pastors, and, first of all, in myself”, the Holy Father said referring to the readings, the Acts of the Apostles in particular, which describe “how the early Christian community faced the challenge of opening to the pagan world in its preaching of the Gospel.” “This was no easy matter; it called for much patience and mutual listening”, noted the Pontiff mentioning Paul and Barnabas who went up to Jerusalem: “they did not settle the question on their own: they wanted to be in communion with the Mother Church and so they went there with humility. In Jerusalem, they found Peter and the Apostles, who were prepared to listen to them.” “This was the beginning of a dialogue that, in the end, led to the right decision”, said the Pope, highlighting the centrality of listening, to the Spirit first of all: “In this way, what might have seemed a problem became for everyone an opportunity for reflection and growth.”
“Communion is built primarily “on our knees,” through prayer and constant commitment to conversion”,
the Pope’s recommendation to the faithful, along with the invitation to become “a letter of Christ” for one another. The Church of Rome has undertaken a “challenging, ongoing journey meant to embrace a very rich and complex reality.”: “Yet it is worthy of the history of this local Church, which has shown, time and again, that it is able to “think big, unafraid to embark on bold projects and to confront new and challenging scenarios.” It is the Pope’s tribute to “the challenging process of listening that the Diocese of Rome has undertaken in these years, a process carried out at various levels: listening to the world around us to respond to its challenges, and listening within our communities to understand needs and to propose sage and prophetic initiatives of evangelization and charity.” “This is evident in the great efforts and many initiatives that the Diocese has made to welcome and provide for the needs of pilgrims during the present Jubilee”, remarked Leo XIV:
“For my part, I would like to express my firm desire to contribute to this great ongoing process by listening to everyone as much as possible, in order to learn, understand and decide things together,”
assured Pope Prevost, quoting the words of Saint Augustine first expressed in his greeting to the Church of Rome: “as a Christian with you and a Bishop for you”. “I would also ask you to support me in prayer and charity”, the request of Leo XIV, who recalled the words of Saint Leo the Great: “All the good we do in the exercise of our ministry is the work of Christ and not our own, for we can do nothing without him.”
