‘I am a Roman,’ says Leo as he takes up duties as bishop

The Pope said the inscription on the Lateran basilica expressed the mission of Rome for the Church: to be Mater omnium Ecclesiarum.

Pope Leo XIV declared himself “a Roman” at a civic ceremony on Sunday, as he performed his first duties for the Diocese of Rome.

Speaking at the seat of the city’s administration on the Capitoline Hill, where he was welcomed by Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, the Pope told the people of the city that “for you and with you, I am a Roman”, adapting the words of St Augustine that he used in his first address after his election: “With you I am a Christian, and for you I am a bishop.”

“Rome will always be distinguished by those values of humanity and civilisation that draw their lifeblood from the Gospel,” he said. “For two millenia now, the Church has carried out her apostolate in Rome, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ and dedicating herself to works of charity.”

After the ceremony, he visited the Basilica of St John Lateran where he said Mass. He went on to visit the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he prayed before the icon of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani and at the tomb of Pope Francis, who had a special devotion to the icon.

Preaching at the Lateran basilica, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, to “our great diocesan family”, Pope Leo said the city “has a unique mission, perfectly expressed by what is written on the façade of this cathedral: to be Mater omnium Ecclesiarum, the Mother of all Churches”.

Speaking to Christian representatives earlier that week, at a special audience the day after his inaugural Mass, Pope Leo noted the ecumenical significance of his election.

“As Bishop of Rome, I consider one of my priorities to be that of seeking the re-establishment of full and visible communion among all those who profess the same faith in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,” he said.

Both there and in a meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I, the Pope acknowledged the significance of the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea. Both agreed to strengthen and build on the “brotherly ties” established between Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew.

Reports from Greece and the Greek Archdiocese of America said Pope Leo was expected to visit Turkey in November to commemorate the anniversary of the council, as Pope Francis had planned to do this month at its modern site of Iznik. A November visit could coincide with the “Throne Feast” of the Apostle Andrew the First Called, which the Ecumenical Patriarchate marks on 30 November, but the Vatican was yet to confirm any date.

Speaking to a Uruguayan radio station last week, the Archbishop of Montevideo Cardinal Daniel Sturla said one of Pope Leo’s first apostolic journeys was likely to be “to Argentina, Uruguay and possibly Peru”. 

Cardinal Sturla said that Pope Leo would seek unity and “follow the general positive innovative lines of Francis but in a very different style. He will be a great listener.” 

The cardinal said he had met the future pope three times, twice in small groups at the Rome assembly of the Synod on Synodality and once at the Vatican Commission for Latin America. “He listens a lot and doesn’t talk so much, but when he speaks it’s slowly and thoughtfully,” Sturla said.

A pope of communion: Leo XIV and the Francis legacy

Pope Leo plans to visit Turkey for Nicaea anniversary

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