SunrisePope Leo XIV delivers 'mild' but 'powerful' public address
Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope, began his papacy with an overnight Inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square, addressing over 250,000 pilgrims and leaders. He called for unity and shared key priorities.
For more, the Director at the Australian Catholic University's Rome campus Dr Claudio Betti joins.
Welcome back. Pope Leo the fourteenth has officially marked the start of his papacy with an inaugural mass held overnight in Saint Peter's Square.
The first American pope addressed a crowd of more than two hundred and fifty thousand pilgrims and world leaders, calling for unity and outlining some other key priorities.
For more where joined live by doctor Claudio Betty, director at the Australian Catholic University's Rome Campus. What did you make of his address?
Well, it was quite interesting, I must say.
It was meek and mild mannered and powerful at the same time. I think it was a full of contents, but it was delivered in a very mild way, probably different from of course, it's different from Pop Francis. I think that there were some very interesting points there. If you want, AI can try to point them out.
Yeah, absolutely, so take us through. Then was this an indicator of his leadership to come?
I think it was this one and a couple of other audiences that he had in the past a few days. One of them was with the Diplomatic Corps and the other one is with the press, which is something and with the media it's interest here as well. I think that the idea, the main idea today was a unity and love at the same time. But clearly it came out that is his idea of a church is not a church as a fortress, but as a yeast eleven in society, and that that is probably what it will try to be all throughout the is Pontificate.
And then another very important.
Thing is it talked about doing this inunity not only within the church, but also with other churches and other religions and all men and women of goodwill. This is the second point that was especially important. And then the third one, which is I think that it was just a passive passage more sentence, but I think it's extremely interesting. In English you will find the term that that we need to be made restless by history. I think in Italian it makes it sounds more like we need to allow history to disquiet us.
And I think that this is crucial in his theology.
Yeah, we're just look at the pictures now. Really hot day in Rome was that we noticed our prime minister even more wore a hat.
Oh yeah, we have seen many in the in this there were many wearing hats in the church. Oh sorry in the square, but not only the Prime Minister. It was also a lot of others what I was saying. As you can see there is a city next to him, which is where a turban.
Is that typical producol wearing a hat for a mask like that?
I would I would say absolutely not.
But of course the sun was very bad and.
I think that.
I mean, my idea is that, considering that it's a silly surgical celebration, man should not wear hats.
But well, eventually I think.
That the protocol had to be changed a little bit because the sun was really hot and it lasted three hours and a half.
Ohs not normally where hat hats wouldn't normally be allowed.
Well, nobody is going to take their head down.
Okay, So it was a sun smart service because of the hate. Interesting, Okay, times are changing in the early times.
Pay were there since since six o'clock. The square was open at six, so.
The master started at ten and it ended at midday.
It was quite a long morning.
Make sure you take your sunscreen next time. Thank you, Claudia, appreciate
