Pontiff calls peace and unity to service, which attracts dignitaries from around the world.
Pope Leo XIV met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his inaugural mass to the Vatican, where he delivered a message of love and unity to a crowd of 200,000 pilgrims.
“We thank the Vatican for his desire to serve as a platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. We are ready to dialogue in any format for tangible results. We appreciate the support of Ukraine and La Voix Claire to defend a fair and lasting peace,” published Zelenskyy on X.
No statement has yet been published by the Vatican concerning the Sunday meeting.
Leo, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, was officially installed as head of the Catholic church during an outdoor mass on Saint-Pierre square with world leaders and European Royapes present.
In his sermon, Leo, the first American pope, called for unity within the Church, saying that he wanted him to act as a force for peace in the world.
“I would like our first great desire to be for a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world,” he said.
“At this time, we still see too much discord, too many injuries caused by hatred, violence, prejudices, the fear of difference and an economic paradigm that exploits the resources of the earth and marginalizes the poorest.”
Leo said he assumed the role of leader of the 1.4 billion Roman Catholics in the world “with fear and tremor” and insisted that he would not lead as “an autocrat”.
“It is never a question of capturing others by force, by religious propaganda or by power. Instead, it is always and only a question of love, as Jesus did,” he said, in an apparent wink to the split between conservative and liberal factions within the Church.
“The rich heritage of the Christian faith”
The 69 -year -old pope, born in Chicago and who spent years as a missionary in Peru, succeeds Pope Francis, whose 12 -year mandate was marked by tensions with traditionalists within the Church. In an apparent wink to the conservatives, Leo said he was determined to protect “the rich heritage of the Christian faith” and repeatedly used the words “unity” and “harmony”.
Before the ceremony, Leo took his first trip to a friend through Place St Peter, waving towards the applauding crowd: “Viva il dad”.
The present dignitaries included the presidents of Israel, Peru and Nigeria; the Prime Ministers of Italy, Canada and Australia; German Chancellor Friedrich Merz; and the king of Spain Felipe and Queen Letizia.
The United States delegation was led by Vice-President JD Vance, a Catholic who had faced Francis on the approach of the White House immigration. Vance shaken Zelenskyy’s hand at the start of the ceremony, unlike the previous meeting between the two men and President Donald Trump during an ardent meeting in front of the world’s media in the White House in February.
Leo prayed for the victims of conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza in his sermon, saying that Ukraine was “martyred” and moving that the Palestinians were “reduced to famine”.
