Date set for the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV

The newly elected Pope Leo XIV will be officially inaugurated as head of the Roman Catholic Church on 18 May. This was announced by the Vatican on Friday. The solemn service is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. in St Peter's Square. As with his predecessors, several dozen heads of state and government as well as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world are expected to attend. At a ceremony in Rome beforehand, Leo will receive the papal insignia: the woollen pallium and the fisherman's ring.

Robert Francis Prevost (69) was elected head of around 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide on Thursday. The long-serving head of the Augustinian Order is the first native-born American to hold the office of Pope, and he also has Peruvian citizenship. Under his predecessor Francis, he headed the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops, effectively the personnel department of the universal church.

Before the inauguration, there will be the first public midday prayer with Leo XIV on Sunday (11 May), followed by a meeting with representatives of the press on Monday and one with the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See on Friday (16 May). The previously customary ceremony of the enthronement of the Pope was already abolished by John Paul I (1978). It was replaced by the first mass with the cardinals, which the Pope celebrated on Friday morning. (KNA)