After the Mass formally inaugurating his Petrine Ministry, Pope Leo XIV led the faithful in the midday Regina Caeli (singing it again), and offering a brief reflection.
"During Mass, I strongly felt the spiritual presence of Pope Francis accompanying us from heaven," he said.
The Holy Father then spoke of various situations of conflict, with particularly strong words for the situation in Gaza.
In Gaza, the surviving children, families, and elderly are reduced to starvation. In Myanmar, new hostilities have cut short innocent young lives. Finally, war-torn Ukraine awaits negotiations for a just and lasting peace.
The Pope's words, spoken in the presence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who came to Rome for the celebration, were applauded by the crowd.
Our Mother's care
For the Mass, the image of Our Lady of Good Counsel was on the altar. This particular devotion to Our Lady is a favorite of Pope Leo's religious order, the Augustinians. On his first trip outside the Vatican, the Holy Father went to visit the shrine where the image is kept.
He called on her for peace, saying, "as we entrust to Mary the service of the Bishop of Rome, Pastor of the universal Church, let us, from the 'Barque of Peter,' look to her, Star of the Sea, Our Lady of Good Counsel, as a sign of hope. We implore her intercession for the gift of peace, for support and comfort for those who suffer, and for the grace for all of us to be witnesses to the Risen Lord."
