Before taking possession of his episcopal seat in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, on May 25, 2025, Leo XIV made his first stop as pope at the Capitol, the seat of Rome's city hall.
During the 10-minute outdoor meeting at the foot of the hill, he exchanged greetings with the mayor, expressing his confidence in the “weighty but exciting responsibility” of serving all Romans.
Accompanied by a motorcade, the pope arrived at the foot of the Capitol, a stone's throw from the ancient ruins of the Roman Forum, shortly after 4 p.m. on Sunday.
"We are happy that Rome is now your city," said Rome's mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, welcoming him.
Wearing his tricolor sash, the politician, elected to the post in 2021, assured the Romans that they would be the “allies” of the new pontiff.
“Rome is today a city committed to healing its ills, focusing above all on the suffering experienced by the many urban and social peripheries that still exist,” said Gualtieri, who heads an administration often criticized for its inefficiency.
Referring to Leo XIV's first words after his election on May 8 -- “Peace be with you all" -- the mayor assured that a “joyful wave of hope” had “flooded St. Peter's Square, spread throughout the city and touched the hearts of everyone.”
“Peace is Rome's strongest universal vocation,” he said.
Rome's values
In response to the mayor, Pope Leo varied the assurance he made to the whole Church after his election, when he quoted St. Augustine: “With you I am a Christian, and for you I am a bishop.”
“I am Roman for you and with you,” he said, prompting a round of applause around the red carpet rolled out for the pontiff's first visit.
As he formally began his ministry as Bishop of Rome, he said he felt “the weighty but exciting responsibility of serving” all the inhabitants of the diocese, with the “common good of society” at heart.
The new pope evoked the long history of the Church of Rome, particularly its service in the charitable, social, and educational fields, but also in the arts, seeing in this expressions “of that concern for human dignity that we must uphold at all times.”
He urged the Eternal City, “unmatched in the richness of its heritage,” to distinguish itself “by those values of humanity and civilization that draw their lifeblood from the Gospel.”
Leo XIV also thanked the Capitoline administration for its management of the 2025 Jubilee, a major event in the Catholic Church celebrated every 25 years, which is bringing thousands of pilgrims to the city.
Gualtieri, who oversaw monumental projects to refresh the city in preparation for this holy year, said that Rome is ready “to welcome with open arms the multitude of young girls and boys” who will come for the Youth Jubilee from July 28 to August 3.
Pier Giorgio Frassati will be canonized during that event, and it is thought that Carlo Acutis might be as well, after the April date of his canonization had to be postponed due to Pope Francis' death.
