Morning, family, and welcome to our live coverage here on EWTN of the Mass for the inauguration of the Petrine Ministry, celebrating our Pope Leo the 14th. I have with me Monsignor Landry, the national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies USA, and Dr. Matthew Bunson, the vice president and editorial director of EWTN News. And I'm Monte Alvarado, the president of EWTN News. And we can hear the wonderful music here in St. Peter's Square as everyone starts to gather, the seats start to be filled here on the wonderful steps behind us. All of the dignitaries coming in to celebrate this incredible moment. Monsignor Landry, you have ecumenical patriarchs who have come in. You have over 130 delegations from around the world. What can we expect from this Mass?
The whole world's going to be united here today in prayer, both religious authorities as well as civil authorities. Everybody wants the pope to do what the pope's supposed to do. He is the figure of unity and charity in the middle of the world. He is a reminder to us of the presence of God in our midst. And with God on our side, who can defeat us? That's essentially the message of the papacy in every age. And so the whole world is hoping for Pope Leo to step up to the plate, even if he's a White Sox fan, to be able to help us all to victory.
Matthew, you can hear these bells ringing. For our friends on radio, I want to make sure that they understand the scene. What are we looking at back here?
Well, we are looking at a crowd, probably estimating 100,000, that will fill out. It already is the square. It'll be processing all the way down the Via della Conciliazione. Everyone is here. We have seen a great deal of enthusiasm for our new pope, just as we saw a great deal of mourning and interest in attending the funeral of Pope Francis. So this is a series of liturgies that culminates today with this inauguration of the Petrine ministry and to reflect on what that means for the Church. We were here for the Habemus Papam. Now he's beginning in a solemn fashion his ministry over the Church.
It's really incredible to think about how many times this has happened, how many times what we will see today, the symbols that are used today, really signify all of the different inauguration pieces for our Church, but just that continuation, the continuity that we can trust that our Church really is what it's supposed to be and where it's supposed to be. Let's talk about some of those symbols and why they matter so much, really quickly. The fisherman's ring.
So a ring is a sign of a spousal commitment first. And so bishops will always wear a ring to show, in a sense, that they're representing Christ, the bridegroom, in his spousal commitment, giving himself, giving his body and blood to his spouse, the Church. But the papal ring is distinct from every bishop's ring. On it, you see an image of St. Peter. You see the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And you see the nets that Jesus told him to put out into the deep to catch all of the disciples caught by the same bait with which Peter himself was caught, the bait of Jesus Christ himself, especially in the Holy Eucharist. And so traditionally rings were signet rings, which would be the official way to sign, wax seals, etc. It's no longer needed for that purpose. But today it's given to him, and many years we pray down the road when Jesus Christ eventually comes for Leo the 14th, that ring will be destroyed. But from today until the very end of his papacy, this is what he's going to be wearing. This is what hundreds of thousands of faithful are going to venerate, often with a kiss, as a sign of their love for the papacy, because it's a symbol of who he is and all that he's trying to do for the Church. And then one day it'll be removed from his finger. It'll be destroyed, and a similar ring will be given to the 268th pope. Historically, the popes have been granted this ring.
They're showing in the square. Sorry, just to interrupt for a second. Pope Leo on the Popemobile coming in through the square. I'm assuming he's arriving here for the Mass, and he's greeting everyone, which is wonderful to see. As he comes up, crowds and crowds. You should have heard that one initial, oh my goodness, you know, nice roar from the crowd welcoming him here, that he is actually coming into the square. So I think the plan is for him to do a spin at least once with the Popemobile, then he will retire back into the sacristy for St. Peter's, where he will then vest for Mass. So it's an opportunity for him to see the crowds, but then for him to be seen too.
But I was mentioning in terms of the ring that popes have worn them for many centuries. Historically, they were used to seal documents. They would be pressed into the wax. That in the 19th century changed a little bit into a more formal seal, partly for the purposes of preserving the ring. But both are defaced, both the seal and the ring. But in the case of Pope Leo, as we saw in the image, a very simple relief of St. Peter. The nets are on the side. His name, Leo the 14th, is carved inside the ring itself. So it's a very subtle design. Each pope can be very particular as to what they want. And I know we'll show the images later as we enjoy this moment of Pope Leo greeting the crowd, saying hello for the first time in his Popemobile in the square. We haven't seen this before. So this is, we're going to have a lot of firsts over the next couple of weeks, and this is certainly a beautiful sight to see him coming through, greeting everyone who came out bright and early. The doors opened at 6:00 a.m. this morning, so they've been waiting for a long time. And this is a nice treat, a nice reward for those who got here nice and early.
We should always get to Mass early. That's the moral of the story. And the people who've gotten here, wait for the final blessing.
Exactly. And seeing that last. No. So he's gotten here early, and this is the first time, as you said, Monte, going through the square. So many people line up along the sides of these partitions throughout St. Peter's Square just to get close. I anticipate he's going to greet some babies as he's going along. Among the Swiss Guard will take the children and give it to him so that he's able to give a kiss. But what a beautiful way that before he formally initiates his papal ministry with this Mass, he's going to be greeting the people who prayed for the successor of St. Peter, prayed for him without knowing what his name would be to emerge. And now he drives through St. Peter's Square, which is a sign with those arms of Bernini's colonnade of the whole Church enveloping the world. And so he is going out in the middle of the world in order to bring the blessing of Christ in his presence and receive the prayers and obviously the huge crowd, huge applause of massive crowd. They're losing it. They're losing it the way we lost it when he was first announced. It's wonderful to see. There's a word that's active in culture today. It's vibe. Yes, this is a vibe. There's a vibe. But let's go back. The last time we saw actually, but yes, when we go back, the last time we saw a pontiff in the Popemobile was Easter Sunday. It was the farewell procession in the Popemobile of Pope Francis. Yes. He died the next day, and here we are with his successor taking a ride.
The symbolism is marvelous for the Church. That's right. It's not yet a month, and here we are as the Church continues and gives us the great gift of another successor to St. Peter. They don't have palm branches, but this is a little bit of what Jesus himself would have experienced on Palm Sunday as the crowds were welcoming. He's just passing right now the sad spot in St. Peter's Square where earlier this week we marked the 44th anniversary of where Mehmet Ali Ağca tried to take John Paul II's life. It is a great act of courage for a pope to go out in the midst of a crowd, even though there's security, get in everything else like this. He is a very courageous man. There was an article that came out in the New York Times today showing of how he would stand up to Peruvian soldiers during the Shining Path who were trying to kidnap the seminarians and forcibly conscript them in the Peruvian army. He himself was the one defending. And so we've had a chance to talk about how he not only says the words, 'Be not afraid,' but tries to enflesh them. And we're showing not just that courage on display now, but incredible joy. What a way for a priest to prepare himself for Mass.
Yes. Oh, then to come close to his people, huh? It's just, and you see people running, running, running, running to try to catch up, just to get a glimpse, maybe a photograph. So I wonder now, will pastors before Mass all over the Church, too, would that the people in their parish churches back in the United States and wherever anybody's listening to us or watching us today greet their pastors this morning like the people here in this big parish of the world are greeting the 267th Holy Father.
Absolutely. It's just remarkable. It's so amazing to see the people running, the babies and the little carriages being carted through just to have that moment with the Holy Father, which we know is so precious. We've seen it many times. But just like we quote St. Augustine, we can quote him again: ever ancient, ever new. It's always a new experience with the Church, always a new blessing, always a new way to find Christ in the vicar that he has chosen. And he is going to come out and go down the Via della Conciliazione, which we haven't seen in a really, really long time for the Popemobile to be able to greet everybody who's coming in, not just those who were fortunate enough to get tickets into the square. He's going to be driving straight by the EWTN booth on this scaffolding.
It's amazing. We're all, we're turning our chairs so that we can see too and catch a glimpse. But it is just wonderful to see this as the crowds roar. For our friends on radio, he's turning right onto the Via after going around right in front of St. Peter's through the square. Going at a nice clip, I would say, taking time to wave but not stopping. So it's a quick hello. We just got our nice wave and blessing. So it's a wonderful feeling. We're so wonderful. So many people can come and share and be a part of this moment as we initiate for the world to see the Petrine ministry. You can hear the excitement in the crowd, but there's also a sense of gratitude that he's doing this. Yes. To do this before the Mass, I think, is a master stroke on his part. It's a thanks on his part, too, for them to come. Yes. As you said, Monte, early to Mass. Early to Mass. Now, I think we're all going to remember that. Early to Mass. It's so important, and it's such a treat to have him welcome everyone in this way so that they remember how close he wants to be.
How long has it been since we had a Holy Father who could stand in this way, greet crowds with this energy, enthusiasm, youth? There's a vitality to what he's doing that I think is a symbol to the world of the Church being with us and coming to invite us in a very close way, but with that energy of renewal. We've been waiting and talking about that, the Eucharistic revival in the United States. Certainly a revival for the Church to have a pope who comes and greets us in this way. And we're seeing as well, he's 69 years old. Most people in culture would consider that to be pretty old, but the AARP card-carrying member, four years past retirement, but he's just getting started. And there's something beautiful about this. But in the Church, we also recognize the sagacity of old age, of age, that there is this, and Pope Francis talked about it, the experience, the hope for wisdom that that brings. And yet he brings with him as well a level of energy that is remarkable. Somebody who would ride horses and donkeys all over Peru as part of his missions. And it wasn't that long ago. And I think, Monsignor Landry, you touched on a point that we're seeing right now, which is the defender of the Church, the courage that comes with coming out into the world, not having people come to him. He's going to them in a physical way to remind them that he is there for them. And just the way, in the same way that he stood up for those seminarians, he's going to stand up for us. He's going to fight for every single one of us. He's fighting for every single one of our souls, certainly. But we can also count on him to be a defender of our human dignity and our human rights, which has been such a thread in the initial conversations he's had with his people. And in this, he's totally following Jesus, for whom he works. Right? I mean, the real hero of everything we're doing today is the one for whom Pope Leo works, and we're seeking to work here for the Eternal Word Television Network. Jesus always drew near his people, but he didn't necessarily go up to them. He wanted them to move a little bit. That's right. He would come to heal all the sick, but he'd climb up a mountain so that people would have to follow him there, so that their desire would be stoked. He'd walk to the lowest place on earth, Jericho, hear the cries of the blind man, Bartimaeus, and say, 'Call him.' He didn't just go and touch Bartimaeus where he was. He wanted Bartimaeus to get up and move. And so what we're seeing in these crowds is the Pope is coming near in this Jeep Popemobile for this purpose. But the people are scampering all over in order to draw nearer to him. And that's the mystery of this double desire.
What was interesting for us is the Pope was coming down. So we've got secular television studios broadcasting next to us, and all of these secular journalists are scampering to just try to get a glimpse of the Holy Father even closer than their monitors would do. Beautiful. And to wave at him and to receive his blessing in return. It's beautiful to see what happens when a pope goes out in order to be able to draw people nearer. Well, he certainly is drawing them near. We're watching it visibly, as you said, enfleshed, this desire for truth, the desire for encounter, and the desire for that warmth that comes with the love of a father. And he's certainly showing that welcome and that warmth and is going to, I think, in his homily reflect on that too. It's amazing. There's one other dimension too, that he is the bishop of Rome. This is his diocese. Now I know, I think on the 25th he will be taking formal possession of what is his cathedral, which is St. John Lateran. That's worth seeing too. But here he is beginning this process now of having encounters directly with his flock here as bishop of Rome as well. Although this is an extremely diverse international crowd, but I suspect, as we have seen throughout, many, many Romans are here to see him today, just exactly in the way that they lined the streets when Pope Francis made his final journey from St. Peter's to Santa Maria Maggiore. They lined the streets by the hundreds of thousands to say farewell to their bishop. Well, now we know why we couldn't move when we were trying to get in here. This is what was planned, and the reason why everyone was locked down. They had many, many more streets locked down than we had for the funeral. And we understand now it's because the Holy Father wanted to come out and greet everyone outside of the square. So a wonderful surprise, a great gift to everyone, even if it came with a little inconvenience. And now we've just seen one of the first papal U-turns in history as the Popemobile just turned at the bottom of the Via della Conciliazione. This straight street that leads from the Tiber River up to St. Peter's was built to show the gratitude of the state of Israel, sorry, excuse me, the state of Italy for the Holy See after a pact in 1929 formalizing relations between the Holy See, Vatican City State, and the state of Italy. And so this straight path looking at St. Peter's is a sign of the straight paths that we're supposed to have and peaceful relations over the course of time. Before it used to be just all these little buildings here, and all of a sudden you just come around one of the buildings and see St. Peter's. Mussolini actually wanted to have this straight path all the way up to St. Peter's so that the whole world would without obstacle be able to reach St. Peter's Square and what it symbolized, the whole world looked at from above like a keyhole because the keys are what Peter holds and his successors inside the basilica to show the complementarity between the Church and the world, between faith and science or faith and reason. That's why Bernini symbolized that complementarity in the square, and that's what even secular governments like Mussolini, fascists, wanted to have the whole world behold when they built this straight street. And this Via della Conciliazione was also a solution to what had been called for some time, for decades, the Roman Question, in the sense that in 1870 with the end basically of the Papal States, the seizure of Rome by the Italian crown, by the government that came in, Vittorio Emanuele, that the popes had become, as Pope Pius IX said, a prisoner of the Vatican. And so you had decades then of very difficult relations between the Holy See and the Italian states. So that normalized not just those relations but also really gave the Holy See an opportunity to embrace in a much more diplomatic and global fashion its relationships with countries all over the world, which is one of the reasons why we have 153 delegations here from governments all over the world, including J.D. Vance.
That's right. That's right. And obviously we saw that meeting yesterday between Marco Rubio and Cardinal Parolin, Secretary of State. And he expressed that on X this morning, how important those relationships are. And that relationship in particular for the defense of human rights. It is a remarkable sight to see the Holy Father go out and come back in, as you said, a symbol of that desire for relationship, knowing that also this is a nice example for those who are here as part of the ecumenical delegations. You have, I think, I believe two who would be considered popes of other churches. We talked about one yesterday with Mar Awa, Patriarch Mar Awa of the Assyrian Church of the East, and I can't remember the name of the other one who is here today, but they are seeing this too. They are watching this too, and I'm sure thinking about what that means for them in their relations as they try to unify the Church or at least get as close as they can. Again, everyone is losing their minds as the Pope comes back up the Via della Conciliazione toward St. Peter's in a second tour up the same street, which is very special. It gave everyone the chance to gather so that they could in a closer way catch a glimpse of the Holy Father. There was a small part of me that was hoping he'd just cross the Tiber, go straight to the Piazza Navona, but he might do that. You never know. He might decide to do that one day. This is a new reality of his papacy. He's going to be in Rome and throughout the globe in vehicles just like this, drawing near to people and using his shoulder muscles in order to wave both on to his right and to his left as he's doing it. And that wave is meant to be a little sign of God's proximity and God's tenderness. The Italians have been mentioning just how warm his smile is. And today I think this super high temperature on the warmth of that smile. He himself is receiving a lot as he's trying to give very much as he sees the love and the enthusiasm of this vast multitude. It's nice that he's a tennis player, so he's got strong shoulders to help. Huh. That backhand will come in handy for many reasons. Yes, exactly. No, I think it's wonderful to see the response from young people. That's the beauty of this square is you see young people running from all ages, ethnicities all over the world who have come here to receive the Holy Father in this very special moment. We had two school-aged, high school-aged kids groups come by EWTN studios yesterday, and they were remarking on how important this moment is for them, how special it is to be here, how they know that this will mark their lives forever, and they'll be able to speak about this moment and how special it was for them, how the Church came close to them. You see some American flags, just like you saw the day of the Habemus Papam. There were, by coincidence, American flags today. There's no coincidence there, intentionally there to welcome the Holy Father and remind him of his birthplace. He stopped to greet his first baby that was brought to him. That was a huge problem in the pontificate of Pope Francis because the Holy Father wanted to embrace babies directly, and the Swiss Guard said, 'Please, Holiness, let us grasp the babies first and give them to you because we've got to feel around the baby to just make sure that there's no explosives there.' These are the realities that the former Cardinal Prevost now has to deal with, as you've got lots of the Swiss Guard around him here in plain clothes, being willing to risk their lives to take anything that might be ill-intended for the Holy Father themselves, so that he's able to embrace babies like God wants to embrace us as his beloved sons and daughters. I can only imagine if the Swiss Guard was concerned about babies what they were thinking when the late Holy Father would stop and drink mate that people would hand them from the crowd. So I think there's something that comes with the Petrine office that just protects you. You just know, God willing, what's safe and what isn't. His guardian angel is on double duty. Listen, if you were to go to any Steubenville conference in the United States, we know how they get people excited for Mass. Nothing compares to a pope traveling through St. Peter's Square to get people really excited to meet Jesus, who's going to come here and speak to us. And he wants to come and nourish us with his own body and blood through the hands of his new vicar on earth. This is just an extraordinary gift to help everybody become united in celebrating our faith because it's this joy that we're supposed to take to the ends of the earth. And it is a new car. We know that last year Mercedes sent a brand new fleet for the papacy. We'll see if they keep those, but that is the fleet that was given to the Petrine office just last year. So it didn't get that much use, unfortunately, with Pope Francis being so ill. But it certainly will get on the road now. I think so. I think so.
Well, as he's coming around, I think we can see all of the dignitaries who are standing with their guard, which is very recognizable. On the left-hand side, I think that would be for our audience, are the patriarchs who are right up at the front. And I believe that the political delegations are on the right-hand side as you look at the facade.
That's correct. The delegations from 151 different countries officially and two unofficial delegations. So 153 of the 195 countries in the world are represented here today in order to be able to share in this moment, which is not just for Catholics, but because of the role of Catholics in the middle of the world, not just historically but in the present, they all wanted to be here to share this because the Pope is now likewise a head of state, but they don't do this for the inauguration of every head of state across the globe.
No, they don't. They certainly don't. They do this because he is, as you said, the representative of Jesus Christ here on earth for us and for the world, and is in charge of every soul on the planet, just like a bishop is in charge of every soul in his diocese. So I love making that point because then you can truly understand the gargantuan weight on that man's very athletic shoulders.
Yeah, I was going to say, no pressure. No pressure. That's right. That's a vibe, too. That's a vibe, too.
Well, it's interesting to see how all of these individuals in the square have new resources to be able to prepare to sing with the Holy Father, which we know he loves to do, and is trying to get us into that mode of sacred singing. There is a brand new initiative from the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music. They're saying that people should learn to sing with the Pope. And so this will provide short educational video tutorials on social media to help people sing with Pope Leo. Help them learn how to sing in Latin specific phrases so that they're not so foreign if they're not going to a Catholic school or their Catholic school doesn't offer training in Latin. They can understand what they're saying, which is very important, and then be able to sing it and tone it with the Holy Father and understand it. What a beautiful initiative it is.
When I was a parish priest in Massachusetts, I used to love teaching children a little bit of the Gregorian chants, especially the hymns at Mass as well as those given to Our Lady. They can pick it up very, very quickly. And then they're able really to pray this in communion with the entire Church. I'm so excited that we have a pope who loves to sing, doesn't just sing well, but loves to sing because as his spiritual father and mentor St. Augustine said, 'Qui bene cantat bis orat' — the one who sings well prays twice.
I know you put an emphasis on 'well,' but I believe everyone can sing, especially liturgical music, because it's quite easy to follow. I know it can be very intimidating, but initiatives like these, especially on Instagram, on social media, are going to be really important for young people to once again come close to the Church and, as the Holy Father said, be not afraid and lose some of those inhibitions that come with being worried about what you might sound like at Mass. Just get in there and start singing. A joyful noise unto the Lord.
Yes, we use the voice that God gave us. Some people can sing like you, Monte, others not quite as well. But whatever we've given, just as we always use it to sing happy birthday to kids and our families, we want to use that same gift that God's given us to be able to sing to him with gratitude. And so that's why so many of the psalms, like what we'll hear later today, will say, 'Sing a new song to the Lord. His praise be ever on our lips.' And so with whatever musical instruments he's given us in our lungs and through our voices, he wants us to use them for his glory. Because sometimes if somebody sings like an opera singer, everybody's intimidated and just allows her or him to sing. But when somebody doesn't sing all that well, it gives everybody the courage that I can sing too. Yeah. I admire priests who will chant but don't do it very well. But everyone gives them a lot of latitude and understanding. But there's also, as a missionary, I know that now Pope Leo the 14th, but as a missionary, the use of little tricks like teaching the teachings of the Church in a way that you can remember with singing little songs. Back in the fifth century, the fourth century, the Arian heretics would use little songs to proclaim and get people to remember sort of little heretical slogans. So then the Church began teaching the same thing but with a really faithful teaching. Those who follow, for example, the Regina Caeli, who begin to sing along with the Holy Father, not only are they going to be learning it, but they're going to be chanting it in a way that will stay in their hearts more than if they had just memorized perhaps Latin phrases they don't even know.
That's right. That's one of the reasons why today we will chant the Creed as we're drawing close to the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which gave us this Creed. We sing it because even sometimes when we can't remember the words, we can remember the melodies which bring us into the words, and then we're able to reflect on the words, and we're able to have this great wow moment of faith when we've sung for decades sometimes what we haven't yet fully understood. But when that light bulb goes off, how grateful we are to have had that opportunity to pray it without really even knowing it along the time. And as a child, you remember these things.
Oh, you absolutely do. And I think that focus on emphasis with children and teaching is something that we're going to see with the Holy Father, and we can count on. And he has that legacy in Chiclayo, in Peru, in that area that he was in as a missionary. We've mentioned it many times. We sent some reporters there for EWTN Noticias, which is our Spanish-language news arm in Peru. Uniquely positioned, I think, to share the Holy Father's legacy with the world is EWTN. But we'll put that to the side for a second. And we sent the reporters there to give us a sense of what kind of a priest he truly was, a parish priest, and the work that he did. Here's that report.
In the hot city of Chiclayo, known as the friendship capital in northern Peru, Pope Leo the 14th carried out his mission as bishop for eight years between 2015 and 2023.
I belong to the liturgy group in my chapel, and we also belong to a group to help those who come from outside, the migrants and the people. So he was very happy with us. I have a picture with him. I had the joy of taking a picture with him.
We've received the news with great joy, with great pride. He was a promoter of my school, and we young people are very happy and proud that our bishop has been chosen.
A surprise, an immense joy, not just for Chiclayo, but also for the whole world. Being that he was here for a long time, he was here for almost 10 years in our diocese of Chiclayo. The thrill is three or four times as great.
In Chiclayo, current Pope Leo the 14th lived as one among his people through several crises that the local government could not manage adequately. Among them were severe floods during the torrential rainy seasons, through which, as a priest and then as bishop, he brought aid to the victims through Cáritas, a church aid organization, as a member of its board of directors. And this he also responded to the COVID pandemic in 2020, managing the purchase of two medical oxygen plants for the sick, which was scarce in the country at the time. In Saña, a few kilometers south of Chiclayo, 300 children attended school promoted by then-Bishop Prevost in 2017. On a tour of his diocese, the future pope saw two children on the road who were walking to another town to attend school. As a result, he decided to promote this school, which he named St. Nicholas of Tolentine, the first saint of the Order of St. Augustine. In Trujillo, another northern city, his evangelizing zeal also led him to build two churches, for which the people are very grateful.
We know Father Robert Prevost. He is very close to us. My mother, my father, and my brothers. We all came to take care of the parish house in 1990, which is right there. The first Augustinian priests arrived there. One of them was Father Robert Prevost. He was the first parish priest and did great work in the whole Monserrat area in those years.
Father Robert Prevost was 30 years old when he first arrived in Peru from the United States in 1985. The humble town of Chulucanas, a land of mangoes and lemons, was the starting ground of the young missionary priest. This territory of intense heat put to the test all the abilities and gifts of the newly ordained Augustinian. Hernán Díaz, prior provincial of the Order of St. Augustine in Peru, explains how the experiences in Peru forged the priest, bishop, and now pope.
The first thing that comes up is the language, an important challenge to one entering into the dynamics of a slightly different culture, as well as the customs, the very popular religiosity of our people, not only from the Andean region, but also the coastal region and all of Peru.
His Augustinian brother also highlights that this contact with reality helped him to identify the needs of the Church.
Pope Leo the 14th, while still a young priest, was able to understand the reality, to grasp in one way or another the idiosyncrasies of the people, and above all to know that he had to bring Christ, which is the main and essential thing.
Throughout his ministry in Peru, Robert Prevost has faced everything, including an accusation of alleged negligence in a canonical investigation of an alleged case of sexual abuse by a priest of his diocese. The current bishop of Chiclayo defends the ongoing process.
He has appeared in the media accusing the cardinal of doing nothing. That is a lie. He has listened. He has respected the processes, and this process is still going on.
This is how the almost 40 years of the life of Robert Prevost, today pope, were spent in Peru, between joys and sorrows shared with the people, preparing him to guide and better bring the gospel, especially to those who are far from God.
That last photograph, I think, just tells you who he is. A man who wants to be with the people, among the people, doing what they do, learning from them, but of course reminding them of Jesus Christ. And I just, I think it's remarkable. It's remarkable that this is our Holy Father. He is a missionary through and through. He was down there in Peru for 22 years as a missionary, for another dozen years he traveled the world as the prior general of the superior of the Augustinians. And we saw that missionary thrust 10 minutes ago in a jeep as he came out into the middle of the world, into these crowds, to be able to bring himself together with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so that is who he is. We saw it there in Peru. We're seeing it here now in Rome.
And I know that we've seen a lot of Peruvian flags here, which is remarkable. I think obviously there's a small Peruvian community here, but there is no way that people did not travel in for this moment to usher him along, to welcome him, and remind him that, yes, he belongs to the rest of the world, but he is dear to these people. And I love seeing that in the same way that we saw the American flags, too.
Well, that's right. He had for a while, he had three passports. He had an American one, he had a Peruvian one, and he had a Vatican one. That's emblematic, I think, of who he was as a cardinal, as a missionary. The Peruvians, so we talk about him as a U.S.-born, he's an American. He is, in fact, also so beloved by Peru that they have claimed him as their own. And that tells you a great deal of the level of respect and love and admiration they have for him in Peru.
I think everyone's trying to claim Pope Leo. I think he visited once a school in Flint, Michigan, I was told yesterday, and they're claiming that that's the one school in Michigan that the Holy Father loves. So we're all trying to get a slice of this new Pan-American Pope, as he was dubbed yesterday in an article. I do want to get back to those symbols, though, of the Mass. We can hear behind us that the crowd is praying the rosary, and I would encourage everyone before Mass to pray the rosary. It's a wonderful way to calm your heart and to really walk into what you're about to celebrate and in receiving Jesus Christ through his mother, which is a beautiful way to do it. So we know that that's what's going on behind us. Kind of hard for us to join in right now. So instead, I think we can prepare ourselves for what we're going to live and see. So we talked about the fisherman's ring. I know we do have an image of the one that will be placed on, well, he will grab it and place it on himself. The ring itself will be presented to him by a member of the order of bishops, in this case Cardinal Luis Tagle, as a member of that order that will present him with the ring.
Yes. So that's the ring as you described it, Matthew and Monsignor Landry. It is beautiful, wonderful to see, but of course it's the symbolism that's even more remarkable. And hopefully it won't be destroyed for a very, very long time. Amen. And it will remind all of us when we see it of the beauty and the wonder of the office, but of course also the great charge. And we have yet to see what Pope Leo will choose to do, whether he will allow people to venerate and kiss the ring the way that past popes have. We know that that wasn't really a favorite of the late Pope Francis. And if people think that the rings are just symbols and they don't matter, in the 1790s the French kidnapped Pope Pius VI on orders of Napoleon. And when they seized him, a soldier took the ring off of his finger. He claimed it on behalf of the French. The next day that ring was returned because there were certain things that even the French under Napoleon knew they couldn't do. And one of those was to seize this ring. So they returned it to the pope. There's a thing of great humility when a pope allows people to venerate the ring. It's not so much venerating him, it's venerating his office. And from soon after his election, that very night when he returned to his apartment where he's staying, those around him approached him and he liberally allowed them to venerate that ring. And I think based on his first 10 days as Holy Father, he's going to restore the tradition of what we call the baciamano, literally the kissing of the hand, because he, I think, grasps that they're not kissing his ring finger. What they're actually doing is venerating Christ through the Petrine office. And I think he's humble enough to permit it.
And the second symbol that we're going to see is the pallium, right? It's part of that episcopal insignia, as they call it. How can you describe that in a way that our audience will understand what they're seeing?
Well, it is a simple woolen band of white and black, and in history it has been worn as a symbol of authority in the Church. We recognize it as a symbol of the metropolitan authority. It is granted, for example, to metropolitan archbishops, but it can only be granted by the pope. It is a symbol of their office and their jurisdiction. The pope himself will receive the pallium today, and from, I believe it's Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, who actually announced that he was the pope a couple of days ago, Habemus Papam. But for the pope, the pallium itself is a symbol. It is a recognition of his metropolitan authority, but his authority over the whole Church. And this is a tradition that dates back well into the time of the Romans as a symbol of authority, but then it was adopted by the Church.
And then, Monsignor, I know you can weigh in too about the pallium, especially how it's made, because I think that's an interesting story.
But the pallium itself is a symbol of that authority, and for the popes to wear it is deeply significant. Pope Benedict XVI, when he was inaugurated or began, he wore an ancient model that was more Eastern, that was actually with red crosses. Interestingly enough, he stopped wearing it in 2008 because there were problems of keeping it in place. Very practical solution. So he went to a more traditional black and white version that we continue to see today. So the pallium is actually a contact relic. On the feast of St. Agnes, January 21st, every year they shear some lambs. Feast of St. Agnes is like the word agnus, or lamb, and they shear it. On February 2nd, the feast of the Presentation, they put a whole bunch of these bands in a box directly underneath the altar of St. Peter's. Some bad tour guides will say that Peter's bones are in that box underneath the altar. No, it's these pallia, just a few inches from where the bones of St. Peter are. And from the beginning it was considered a contact relic, that because it's right next to the bones of St. Peter, when these metropolitan archbishops, so not archbishops who work for the Vatican, not archbishops who are papal nuncios, but archbishops like of Boston or Philadelphia or New York or Chicago or Los Angeles or San Francisco, etc., they get these on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul every year as a sign that they share the same faith for which Peter lived and died for here, and which the pope continues to live and proclaim. And so it's a beautiful sign of the communion of the Church through these metropolitan archbishops all across the globe. And with it, it's kind of put onto the outer garment of the chasuble with three nails.
Yes, to symbolize the three nails that would have pierced Jesus's hands, one each, and that pierced both of his feet. And so it's a reminder as they put that on that they're supposed to be good shepherds willing to give their life for their sheep as Jesus did. But it's also a sign of the commitment of Christ's lambs to the Holy Father for their care. It's, I think, important to talk through what those pieces, the different pieces are, just because when you see a picture like that with the three nails and a strip of wool, it doesn't have the same meaning unless you have the explanation. It kind of feels like, well, you can kind of imagine, yes, that must be three nails for the wounds of Christ, but is that really what it signifies for?
Well, and there's deep significance as when traditionally the Metropolitan Archbishops would receive the pallium from the pope, and that is on June 29th, the feast of St. Peter and Paul, and they would typically receive it here in a ceremony from the hands of the pope.
And we're starting to see some images from the inside of St. Peter's. I know that we did see the box with the ring, and we'll see a couple of other things as they start to show us where everything is going to take place today. But one of the things that is going to happen that I want to make sure we discuss for our audience is the beginning, the beginning of everything at the tomb of St. Peter. So going down before coming up. Can you talk to us about what the Holy Father now is going to do? He came out on the Popemobile. He greeted everyone. Now he has to vest and then do this wonderful thing. Explain that to us, please.
Well, so he will be descending down to view and pray at the trophosis. So it's, think of it, I mean, we can talk more about that, but basically it's a confessio that he will be going down and praying before what is the great tomb of St. Peter in St. Peter's Basilica, and he'll be sharing that experience, I believe, with the Eastern Patriarchs, the Eastern Cardinals. So it's a sign of union. It is a sign of communion. It is a sign also of that great continuity, the apostolic succession that we have witnessed now over the last month. And it is that thing we share. It's our love for Christ and our belief in this succession.
Above that confessio, at the base of the dome of Michelangelo, there are two Latin expressions that teach us exactly what's going to go on. One is 'Hinc una fides mundo refulget' — from here, from that tomb of Peter, in the altar built on top of it, one faith arises throughout the entire world. And 'Hinc sacerdotii una refulget' — from this one place, this tomb of Peter, the unity of the one priesthood of Christ arises and shines throughout the whole world. And so what's happening when the pope and the Eastern Patriarchs go is they're going to the real source of unity. Jesus, the cornerstone, built his church on Peter, the rock, and the Holy Father is in a sense the living rock. And as he goes back to the source of the Petrine ministry, asking for Peter's prayer, surrounded by his brothers from the East, because he is always considered the patriarch of the West, they emerge from there, coming out here into the world, symbolized by the square, strengthened by Peter's prayers, and soon to be invested with a relic that's going to put him into some type of physical contact with the first pope.
I love that. I think those physical symbols, the tangible reality of our faith, is so important for all of our viewers and our listeners to kind of walk into this moment understanding, because they're, again, they're not just symbols. They're not just things we do because we're supposed to do them. They have great meaning and great significance and great spiritual significance. Particularly for me, watching, knowing Pope Francis's heart and his desire to unite East and West, knowing that he walked into this same moment. Hopefully Pope Leo will be able to further that unity, as we've discussed, I know, often. These are profound spiritual realities that we are seeing, but we are an incarnational people. We are enfleshed, as Monsignor has pointed out. So these are tangible realities. These are material things that point us towards something much deeper. So in the symbol of the pallium, in the symbol of the ring of the fisherman, we are being connected directly to Peter by his successor and in union, communion with the bishops around the world and with all of the faithful.
I have to say that it is worth noting how, for us, where we live in a reality, at least in the United States, but even here in Rome, I mean, you walk three steps and you have a church, and you turn and there's another church, 900 of them in this city. There's no problem here with freedom of religion and freedom of worship. But you think about some of the patriarchs that are going to be here today and what this means for those smaller Christian communities around the world, what that the whole world is watching them in their vestments, with their tradition, walking with the Pope, the Holy Father who represents the Church of the West, right? The Western Church receiving the Eastern Church for this one moment, probably praying that they won't be out of existence, that this moment will be a moment of grace that will allow them to remain and to thrive, which we know Pope Leo said right away in one of the first speeches that he gave. And so I find great spiritual significance knowing the suffering that our brothers and sisters in the East are living right now in this moment, probably unable to participate in this, even to watch the feed. It's a great sign of hope for persecuted Christians all around the globe. And it's also a sign that their patriarchs really matter. Oh yes. That they are here treated according to the dignity of their office, that they are just as much a successor of the apostles as Pope Leo the 14th is, and the same Lord who has chosen Pope Leo has chosen them, and they're open to the same graces in a different context. And so what a gift it is to be able to see this communion of faith.
And we see the arrival of the American delegation with Vice President J.D. Vance coming in to take his seat, obviously accompanied by a lot of security.
