What was Pope Leo’s first day like?

During the first 24 hours of his pontificate, Leo XIV gave the impression of a pope capable of bringing together the rich legacies of all his immediate predecessors Francis, Benedict XVI, and John Paul II. 

I.Media recounts the pontiff's first steps.

Shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV came to the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica, where he delivered his first speech before more than 100,000 people. In a matter of moments, the man formerly known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost became, for the whole world, the head of the Catholic Church under a new name. It was a choice that sounded like a program, as Leo XIII was the pope who ushered the Church into the 20th century and formulated its “social doctrine.”

Pope Leo XIV's first words, “peace be with you all,” echoed across the Square. In his speech, the pope took up the major themes of Francis' pontificate — synodality, inclusion, priority for the poor — without forgetting to pay a moving tribute to the man who, less than 20 days earlier, had blessed the faithful in that same square.

“He has a deep understanding of who Pope Francis is,” Cardinal Christophe Pierre, nuncio to the United States, reflected the next day.

In less than 20 minutes, the first broad strokes of a new personality emerged, one that was in many ways different from that of his predecessor. His speech, long and rich in quotations from the Gospels, was more like a homily than the warm and spontaneous greetings of the Argentine pontiff in 2013.

Unlike John Paul II and Benedict XVI, Leo XIV refused to wear the red shoes of the popes, keeping simple black shoes like Francis. But his choice to wear, like the first two, the red mozzetta, a golden pectoral cross, and a rochet did not go unnoticed.

When he was elected, Francis wore only his white cassock and only put the ancient stole of Saints Peter and Paul on his shoulders for the final blessing, whereas his Successor wore it throughout his entire appearance.

As night was falling, Leo XIV returned to the Santa Marta residence with the other cardinals to share the traditional meal at the end of the conclave.

“A good dinner, friendly and relaxed,” reported Cardinal François Bustillo, bishop of Corsica. Unsurprisingly, Italian cuisine was on the menu.

Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco also described the atmosphere as “very joyful, very light.” At the table, the cardinals looked back on the crucial 24 hours they had just experienced, which had enabled them to choose the 267th pope in history from among their number.

Later that evening, Leo XIV decided not to stay in the room he had occupied during the conclave. He drove to the Palace of the Holy Office, located a few hundred meters away, where he had settled only seven weeks earlier. Francis remained at Santa Marta and never left, abandoning the papal apartments. But the rumor so far is that Leo will return to the papal apartments.

At the Holy Office, where she lives, Sister Nathalie Becquart is surprised to see the Pope arrive. The new Pontiff is welcomed in the palace courtyard by a group of residents and a few visitors, also stunned. The Pope shakes hands, which some of the faithful kiss with deference. He exchanges a few words in Italian, then in Spanish with pilgrims from Mexico, and takes a few selfies. “It's not every day you meet a pope in your building,” says Sister Becquart, delighted to have been able to greet and congratulate him.

A young Italian woman hands the new pope a Bible to sign, and Leo XIV accepts, even taking the time to write a personal message. But as he was about to sign his name, he stopped himself with a smile, explaining that he shouldn't use “the old one that's no longer any good,” before mischievously asking the crowd, “What day is it today?” which elicited laughter from many.

After greeting and blessing everyone, the Pontiff returned to his private apartment for the night. His door remained under the protection of the Swiss Guards, the small army specifically responsible for watching over the pontiff.

The next morning, the scene changed: The pope celebrated his first official Mass in the Sistine Chapel, in the presence of the cardinals. Here again, the choice of liturgical vestments is closely scrutinized: Like Francis, he has chosen to carry the ferula -- the shepherd's staff -- of Benedict XVI. The Argentine, however, then abandoned the German pope's ferula in favor of another, made especially for him, but which Leo XIV did not choose.

But more than this detail, it was the style adopted by the Chicago-born pontiff in his homily that seemed to distinguish him from Francis. In 2013, Francis proposed a kind of “standard homily” he'd use masterfully throughout his pontificate: structured in three parts, highly educational, full of powerful insights into specific scriptural references, and sprinkled with literary quotations. Francis at this first Mass regularly departed from his text to improvise — as he would go on to do throughout his pontificate.

Leo XIV also allowed himself some improvisation at the beginning of his homily. It was in English — as if to make up for the previous day, when he greeted the crowd in St. Peter's Square in Italian and Spanish. But the Pope then read his entire homily faithfully in Italian, from beginning to end. His text, structured around a broad line of reflection, recalls the spiritual inspirations of John Paul II. And the theological density of his words echoes that of Benedict XVI, according to several observers.

After the Mass, celebrated in Latin, the American-Peruvian Pope returned to the Santa Marta residence for another meal with the cardinals.

Marc Leboucher, a French publisher invited to lunch by Cardinal Barbarin, told I.Media that the menu featured fish — as is customary on Fridays — but more importantly, that he was able to greet the new pope. The latter, moving among the tables, stopped to exchange a few words with those present in the dining hall where Francis shared his meals with guests for so many years.