And the month of May arrived and, with it…a new pope. May 8th was the long-awaited day.
Before the eyes of thousands of faithful in St. Peter’s Square, Cardinal Robert Prevost was announced as the new pope. His new name: Pope Leo XIV.
The following days brought significant moments: the Pope revealed his coat of arms, he signed a child’s Bible with his papal signature for the first time, he made his first visit outside Rome to a shrine, and he held his first meeting with the press.
Then came the Mass marking the beginning of his papacy.
POPE LEO XIV
This, brothers and sisters, I would like to be our first great desire: a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, a leaven for a reconciled world.
Pope Leo shared a rare moment of emotion as he received the papal insignia: the pallium and the fisherman’s ring.
Among his first tasks in the Curia, he took a historic step, appointing Tiziana Merletti as the secretary of the Dicastery for Consecrated Life, the first time a woman has served in this position.
