world leaders gather as Leo to receive fisherman’s ring

Pope Leo, born in Chicago in 1955, became the first North American to be made pontiff when the College of Cardinals elected him on May 8 to succeed Pope Francis, the first South American pontiff.

The crowds gathered for the inaugural mass signal the support from Catholics – and others – for his opening message 10 days ago: “Peace be with you.”

Behind the scenes at the mass, Rubio has spoken of the Vatican as a possible third party to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, highlighting the potential for the new Pope to become a trusted broker between states.

Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli, in Rome for the inaugural mass, said the reaction to Leo suggested that his first message had resonated with people around the world, including Australians.

“People of all kinds see Pope Leo as a leader of the world – not just for Catholics,” he told this masthead.

One example, he said, was the way Pope Leo spoke of new issues for humanity such as artificial intelligence, confronting ethical questions over the new technology.

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher, also in Rome, described the new Pope as someone who wanted to ease differences between people.

“I think he’s a very centred and centrist Pope, and I think there’s been lots of signs of that already,” he told this masthead.

“He’s centred on Christ. That’s his big message, again and again, about what Christ brings. I think he’s not going to be one to provoke storms. He’ll be much more one to pour oil on troubled waters.

“In a very divided world, in a polarised culture and politics, he’s going to be one for bringing people together. I think you see that in his messages so far, and I think that is very much his personality, too.”

There is no coronation for the pope, but there has traditionally been a recognition that he is a head of state, given Vatican City is the world’s smallest country.

The last pontiff to be crowned as a king was Pope Paul VI in 1963, who wore the “triple tiara” to represent the three roles of the pontiff as father of kings, governor of the world and vicar of Christ.

Pope Paul was given the tiara, which featured pierced silver and three gold bands set with precious gems, by the people of Milan. But he set it aside as a symbolic gift to the poor one year after his papacy began. No pope has been crowned since.

Pope Leo will receive a vestment, known as a pallium, to signify his elevation to the papacy. Shaped in a white band and woven from wool, the pallium is seen as a symbol of the lamb Jesus carried on his shoulders, and the role of the pope as the shepherd of the faithful.

The previous pontiff, Pope Francis, described the pallium as a symbol of those whom the shepherd looked after.

“It is a sign that the shepherds do not live for themselves but for the sheep,” he said six years ago. “It is a sign that, in order to possess life, we have to lose it, give it away.”

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Pope Leo will also receive the fisherman’s ring, signifying the role of St Peter and all later popes as the “fishers of men” in church tradition.

While Pope Francis chose a silver ring, in a break from tradition, the Vatican has distributed images of the ring for Pope Leo showing St Peter on a gold background.

After receiving the ring, Pope Leo will descend to the foundations of St Peter’s Basilica to venerate the bones of St Peter, who was put to death by the Romans in AD 68 because of his faith. Early church history describes St Peter being crucified with his head downwards and his burial site being known to historians.

Archaeological work at St Peter’s Basilica uncovered more of the necropolis beneath the building in the 1950s and 1960s, leading to the discovery of the bones of a man aged in his 60s. Pope Paul VI said in 1968 that these were the remains of St Peter.

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