Crowds chanted “Viva il Papa” (Long Live the Pope) and “Papa Leone”, his name in Italian, as his distinctive, open-topped popemobile weaved around St Peter’s Square.
Robert Prevost, a relative unknown on the world stage who only became a cardinal two years ago, was elected pope on May 8 after a short conclave of cardinals that lasted barely 24 hours.
He succeeded Pope Francis, an Argentine, who died on Apr 21 after leading the Church for 12 often turbulent years during which he battled with traditionalists and championed the poor and marginalised.
US Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert who clashed with Pope Francis over the White House’s hardline immigration policies, led a US delegation alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also Catholic.
Vance briefly shook hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the start of the ceremony. The two men last met in February in the White House, when they clashed fiercely in front of the world’s media.
In his sermon, read in fluent Italian, Pope Leo said that as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics, he would not shrink before modern challenges and that, at least on social issues such as combating poverty and protecting the environment, he would continue the legacy of Pope Francis.
Pope Leo said the cardinals who elected him had chosen someone “capable of preserving the rich heritage of the Christian faith and, at the same time, looking to the future, in order to confront the questions, concerns and challenges of today’s world”.
