An inaugural mass with constantly renewed rites

What does Léon XIV want for the inauguration mass of his pontificate? We will soon know and each symbolic gesture planned will be analyzed to try to draw signs on the color that will take by its governance.

For the moment, we know that it will take place on Sunday May 18 at 10 a.m., Place Saint-Pierre. This very solemn mass replaces the pope’s coronation mass, a practice attested since the ninth century under the reign of Nicolas I (858-867), but which is no longer in use since Jean-Paul I, elected (and deceased) in 1978. He wanted to modify the ritual, refusing to wear the tiara (sort of crown) to simply style a miter A sign that the Pope is first of all a pastor before being a sovereign.

Official start of the pontificate

This Sunday, May 18, 2025, will be present on Place Saint-Pierre, representatives of the whole church and nearly two hundred delegations from governments around the world. It is likely that French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump come in person.

The pope will celebrate in front of the cardinals, the bishops and the numerous public on the immense semicircle designed by the architect Le Bernin in 1656. Millions of spectators will also follow the ceremony in front of their screen, thanks to the retransmission by Mondiovision: this mass will really represent the official start of the pontificate.

The fisherman’s ring given to the Pope

Around 9:30 am, the pontifical insignia will be given to Léon XIV: Cardinal Protodiacre, Dominique Mamberti, will carry out the imposition of the pallium, this band of ornamental fabric, embroidered with cross recalling the wounds of Christ is inherited from the signs of power of the Emperors of Byzantium. Symbolizing the heritage of Saint Peter, it has been carried by the Pope from the High Middle Ages and offered to certain bishops.

Then will read a first prayer. The dean of the Cardinalice College, will then give Léon XIV the fisherman’s ring, a ring whose kitten is engraved in a effigy of Saint Peter, fishing. This kitten, mounted differently according to the pontiffs, is transmitted from Pope to Pope and used to be a private seal. Benoît XVI had made an goldsmith work to chise a new gold ring. But François had resumed – without often wearing it – the golden silver ring of Paul VI.

Finally six cardinals, two in order, will represent the whole body of the cardinals to act of obedience to the new pope, even if all the cardinals have already taken him an oath of loyalty during his election.

An expected homily

Mass will undoubtedly start with a moment of meditation by Léon XIV on the tomb of the apostle Peter, the first pope according to the tradition of the church. It is located exactly under the current altar of the basilica, in an even lower basement than the crypt of the popes. This custom, inaugurated by Benedict XVI, had been taken up by François.

During this ceremony, after the Eucharist, the new pope will read a homily which he wrote and which will undoubtedly define the contours which he intends to give to his pontificate, at the head of the Christian people, ready to fulfill his role as universal pastor of the Catholic Church.

After this first inaugural mass, on Tuesday, May 20, the Pope will take possession of the basilicas of Rome and in particular the Saint-Jean-de-Latran basilica, considered as the pope’s cathedral in Rome. By this symbolic act, the pope “settles” officially and affirms his spiritual authority over the whole of the Catholic Church, while linking to the city of Rome, capital of Christianity, of which he is the bishop.