(18 May 2025)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Vatican City – 18 May 2025
1. U.S. Vice President JD Vance, his wife Usha and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his wife Jeanette arriving at inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV
2. Vance, Rubio and their spouses greet monsignors
3. Various of Vance and Rubio taking their seats, Vance sitting next to President of Peru Dina Boluarte
4. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy arriving
5. Zelensky greeting Vance
6. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni arrives and greets Vance
7. Zelensky greets Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Meloni
8. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen arrives
9. President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola arrives
10. King Alberto and Queen Charlene of Monaco arrive
11. King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium standing at their seats
12. Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg arrive
13. Various of King Felipe VI and Queen Leticia of Spain and greeting others
14. Wide of leaders seated
15. Mid of Metsola, von der Leyen and Zelensky seated
16. President of Lebanon Joseph Aoun arrives
17. Wide of guests including other religious leaders
18. Group of the Jewish Community of Rome arriving, including Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni
19. Swiss Guards entering altar area from Basilica
20. Pope Leo XIV procession walking towards altar area from Basilica
21. Various of Pope Leo XIV at altar
22. Wide of leaders standing
23. Pope Leo XIV standing in front of altar
STORYLINE:
Kings and Queens, political and religious leaders all sat together near the altar in front of St. Peter’s Basilica watching as Pope Leo XIV officially opened his pontificate as history’s first American pope on Sunday, presiding over an inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
Strict diplomatic protocol dictated the seating arrangements, with both the United States and Peru getting front-row seats thanks to Leo’s dual citizenship. U.S. Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert who tangled with Francis over the Trump administration’s mass migrant deportation plans, was joined by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived in Rome ahead of time to try to advance Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte is one of around a dozen heads of state attending, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Diplomatic protocol also dictated the dress code. While most wore black, the handful of Catholic queens and princesses — Charlene of Monaco and Letizia of Spain among others — wore white in a special privilege allowed them. Three dozen of the world’s other Christian churches sent their own delegations, headed by patriarchs, reverends, ministers and metropolitans, while the Jewish community had a 13-member delegation, half of them rabbis.
Leo launched the celebration by taking his first popemobile tour through the piazza, a rite of passage that has become synonymous with the papacy’s global reach and mediatic draw, used at home and abroad to bring popes close to their flock. The 69-year-old Augustinian missionary smiled and waved from the back of the truck, but didn’t appear to stop to kiss babies.
During the Mass, Leo received the two potent symbols of the papacy: the lambswool stole, known as a pallium, and the fisherman’s ring. The pallium, draped across his shoulders, symbolizes the pastor carrying his flock as the pope carries the faithful. The ring, which becomes Leo’s official seal, harks back to Jesus’ call to the apostle Peter to cast his fishing nets.
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