Another Catholic in the crowd: Anthony Albanese joins thousands at Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration
A Prime Minister at the height of his powers sat with the likes of JD Vance and Giorgia Meloni as they watched the first American pope officially start his reign in a packed Vatican City.
In a sea of world leaders and ecstatic Catholics waiting for the era of Leo XIV to officially begin, Anthony Albanese stood out as much as any cardinal or nun in his Akubra.
A Prime Minister at the height of his powers was among hundreds of dignitaries in Rome on Sunday, as he waited for the new Pope’s inauguration mass alongside the likes of JD Vance, Giorgia Meloni, new German chancellor Friedrich Merz and Prince Edward standing in for the King.
Mr Albanese started his time in the Holy See with Australian bishops admiring the masterpieces and the godliness of a church that has stood for thousands of years.
And he was due to end the day firmly in the present with meetings with Europe’s top official, Ursula von der Leyen, and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky scheduled.
But for a few moments, Mr Albanese was just another Catholic in the crowd watching the first American pope take his place in a 2000-year-old story.
“When Pope Leo gave his address after his election, he spoke about peace and justice in the world,” Mr Albanese said ahead of the mass. “And following on from what I think was an extraordinary role that Pope Francis played in sending out that message of justice and looking after the vulnerable and the poor … is important in today’s world, where we have so much turbulence and people are looking for some constancy, and they’re looking for higher values and a belief, that is important.”
Wearing a plain white cassock and a beaming smile, Pope Leo glided through St Peter’s Square in an electric, open-topped popemobile before he was inaugurated as leader of the globe’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Ahead of a ceremony soaked in ancient pomp and ritual, the 69-year-old thrilled crowds of faithful with his debut tour of the square with waves, stopping his procession to bless a baby.
Hundreds of thousands of gleeful pilgrims thronged the Vatican’s cobbled surrounds on Sunday to witness a new chapter in the history of the world’s oldest and largest church begin.
Thousands of police officers – including sharpshooters on the rooftops and bomb disposal squads on the ground – guarded a ceremony that was full of the world’s leaders.
Leo, born in Chicago in 1955 and elected the 267th pontiff in a secret conclave last week, has been a lifelong servant of the poor.
Like his predecessor, Pope Francis, he opted for simple attire for his lap of St Peter’s Square before changing into golden vestments for his inaugural public mass.
Crowds had begun gathering since dawn to secure prime position in the sun-soaked piazza, hoping to get close to the new Pope, who holds citizenship from both the United States and Peru.
The day contained special meaning for American Josefina Atamiranda who is studying theology at the Angelicum in Rome – the same university where Pope Leo received his doctorate in canon law.
“It is a blessing to be able to be here for this historic moment. It is a once-in-a-lifetime moment,” she told The Australian from the centre of St Peter’s Square.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people here but somehow it feels like home.”
After making his way inside the basilica, Leo knelt at the tomb of St Peter, considered the first pope, and was then bestowed the symbols of the papacy: the lamb's wool stole, known as a pallium, and the fisherman’s ring, which will be smashed when he dies.
The pallium, which was woven by Benedictine nuns, signifies his role as shepherd and is a fitting symbol for a pope who faces the challenge of uniting a divided global flock.
The son of a teacher and a librarian, Leo takes over the leadership of a church still dealing with the fallout of the widespread child sex abuse scandal, and grappling with modern world issues.
In meetings throughout the week he had repeated his call for peace and emphasised the importance of a family built around a “stable union of a man and a woman”, and defended the rights of the unborn.
The jubilation, thick in the air on Sunday, was a very different mood to the solemnity that cloaked the city just weeks ago when hundreds of thousands gathered in the very same streets to farewell Pope Francis.
The contrast was not lost on Perth’s Archbishop Tim Costelloe, who attended Francis’s funeral on April 26 and returned to Rome to witness Leo’s formal accession to head of the Catholic Church.
“When you reflect on the death of Pope Francis and the enormous number of people who came for his funeral to express their gratitude, and now the excitement about the election of Pope Leo, it is an indication of the papacy to speak into what is often a very troubled situation around the world,” Mr Cottesloe said.
“I think that helps to explain that not just Catholics, or even just Christians, but people generally are interested and excited and filled with a sense of hope.”
The Australian ambassador-designate to the Holy See, Keith Pitt, a former Nationals MP and cabinet minister, took up his Vatican posting just weeks before Francis’s death.
“Following a period of great sadness with the passing of Pope Francis, this is now a time of renewal, great joy and celebration. There is a lot of excitement,” Mr Pitt told The Australian. “I got reminded again today that Pope Leo does love Tim Tams, so having a Pope who knows and admires Australia and its people, as I’m sure others have before him, but just the fact that he has visited, I think that will make a real difference.”
Mr Pitt is expected to have a private meeting with Leo in coming weeks, where he will present his diplomatic credentials to the Vatican along with a ceremonial gift for the pontiff.
“I wouldn’t want to pre-empt what I may or may not take, but you can be assured it’ll have an Australian flavour,” he said.
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