Buzz builds for inauguration of Tim Tam loving Pope Leo XIV

After Pope Leo XIV is inaugurated as Bishop of Rome on Sunday, Anthony Albanese and Volodymyr Zelensky will meet face-to-face.

Pope Leo XIV appears on the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican to bless the crowd below. Picture: AP /Gregorio Borgia

It’s hours before Pope Leo XIV will be inaugurated as Bishop of Rome and the mood on the cobbled streets surrounding the Vatican is building.

Hordes of American tourists nursing melting cones of gelato are flocking to St Peter’s Square to honour the first US-born Pope, alongside masses of pilgrims clutching flags and crucifixes.

Sunshine is blanketing the city as beaming priests ride electric bikes into the heart of the action and nuns from across the world link arms in laughter as they stroll towards the piazza.

It is a very different mood to the solemnity that cloaked the city last month when hundreds of thousands gathered in the very same streets to farewell Pope Francis.

Confraternity members march in a procession through old Rome during the Jubilee on Saturday. Picture: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The contrast is not lost on Perth’s Archbishop Tim Costelloe, who attended Francis’ funeral on April 26 and has 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,” he 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.”

In the early days of his papacy, Leo has made it clear he plans to use his influence to push for global peace. He told church leaders earlier this week the Holy See was “always ready to help bring enemies together face-to-face, to talk to one another, so that peoples everywhere may once more find hope and recover the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace.”

Archbishop Tim Costelloe and Bishop Greg Bennet in Rome. Picture: Lydia Lynch

“Let us meet, let us talk, let us negotiate,” he added.

Greg Bennet, the Bishop of Sale in regional Victoria, suspects Sunday’s homily will press a similar message.

“I think that those major themes of peace, the dignity of life, and attention to the missionary aspects of the church, to the poor … I think that’s what he’ll pick up (in the homily).”

All eyes will be on world leaders as they take their chairs in St Peter’s Square for the inauguration mass, particularly US vice president JD Vance and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky after their infamous Oval Office row earlier this year.

Anthony Albanese will hold a bilateral meeting with Zelensky after the mass on Sunday.

A portrait of new Pope Leo XIV adorns a coffee cup with the word "Americano", which refers both to Pope Leo XIV's nationality and a popular Italian coffee type, Picture: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

The Prime Minister, who arrived in Italy on Friday night, began his weekend with an espresso at his favourite Roman haunt, Caffè Greco.

Fresh from the campaign trail, the Prime Minister – accompanied by his travelling pack of security and staff – then stretched his legs with a half-hour walk to Domus Australia to meet the archbishops of Sydney and Melbourne, Anthony Fisher and Peter Comensoli.

“One of the things about a campaign is you get so little opportunity to exercise, you are up early, you have dinners at night...”, Albanese tells them.

Archbishop Fisher was quick with a compliment: “Well, I think you are looking fit”.

The archbishops gave Albanese a tour of the restored chapel connected to Domus Australia, which was opened by Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal George Pell in 2011, alongside Australia’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Keith Pitt.

Pitt, a former Nationals MP from Bundaberg, 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,” he told The Australian on Saturday.

Anthony Albanese in Rome with Australia's Ambassador to the Holy See Keith Pitt. Picture: Lydia Lynch

“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.”

Pitt is expected to have a private meeting with Leo in coming weeks, where he will present the new pontiff with a ceremonial gift.

“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.”

Australia Post better get ready with a shipment of double coat Tim Tams.