MIRIAM NNOLI 
The newly appointed Pope Leo XIV, on Sunday formally took up his role as leader of the global Catholic Church, with a Mass in St. Peter’s Square that drew tens of thousands of well-wishers, including dozens of world leaders and European royalty.
Sunday Telegraph reports that in his homily, Leo said he wanted to be a servant to the faithful through the two dimensions of the papacy, love and unity.
His call for unity was significant, given the polarisation in the Catholic Church in the United States and beyond.
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After starting at St Peter’s tomb, on whose grave the Catholic Church is believed to be built, the ecclesiastical procession made its way to St Peter’s Basilica. The new pontiff was the last in the procession. He then addressed the hundreds of thousands watching the ceremony.
The pontiff took his first popemobile ride through St. Peter’s Square this morning, greeting the crowds who joined presidents, patriarchs and princes for the formal installation ceremony of history’s first American pope. An estimated 250,000 people are expected to turn out for the event.
The bells of St. Peter’s Basilica tolled as Leo waved from the back of the open-topped truck that looped slowly through the square and then up and down the boulevard to it.
