‘Peace be with you’: Pope Leo makes first public address

American Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was on Thursday, May 8, 2025, named Pope Leo XIV, making him the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

The new leader of the 1.4 billion-strong church was elected through a two-day conclave gathering 133 Roman Catholic cardinals in the Vatican.

Pope Leo XIV called for the world to “build bridges” and for peace for “all peoples”, as he addressed the crowds in St Peter’s Square following his election.

The new pontiff urged people to “build bridges through dialogue, through encounter, to come together as one people, always in peace”, before paying homage to his predecessor, Pope Francis.

The Pope will hold his first audience with the media on Monday, the Vatican said.

Pope Leo XIV will celebrate his first mass on Friday at 9:00 a.m. GMT, the Vatican said. The mass will be held for cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel.

Cardinal Rupert Prevost is the new Pope

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday hailed the “powerful call to peace” Pope Leo XIV made in his first address, AFP reported.

“In a time marked by conflict and unrest, his words from the Loggia of Benedictions are a powerful call to peace, brotherhood and responsibility,” she said in a statement on X, referring to the American’s inaugural address on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, whose country has the world’s second-largest Catholic population, congratulated Pope Leo XIV on his election and said she shared the pontiff’s “humanist” values “in favor of world peace and prosperity”.

The Star