As he completed the last formalities of his position as the bishop of Rome, Pope Leo XIV proclaimed himself a Roman on Sunday. Pope Leo XIV, dressed in his official crimson papal cloak and brocaded stole, recited what he had said the night before his election from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica. “With you, I am Christian, and for you, bishop,” the pope said, quoting St. Augustine.
With a particular title, I can proclaim today that I am Roman for you and with you,” Leo said. First to greet Pope Leo XIV on the steps of City Hall, Rome’s Mayor Roberto Gualtieri pointed out that his election on May 8 coincided with a Holy Jubilee year, which is held every 25 years to welcome travellers to Rome.
The city undertook two years of traffic-clogging public works projects to prepare for the anticipated arrival of up to 30 million residents in 2025. Pope Leo XIV felt a “serious but passionate responsibility” to assist all Romans throughout the Holy Year and beyond.
With an evening Mass attended by Roman priests and faithful, the first US-born pope officially took over the St. John Lateran Basilica, Rome’s cathedral and diocesan seat. After that, he travelled to St. Mary Major in the popemobile, where he prayed in front of Pope Francis’s grave and a Virgin Mary image that is cherished by many Roman Catholics. The pope also visited the church of St. Paul Outside the Walls last week.
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