Pope Leo pledges to resist 'temptation to be autocrat'

Tens of thousands of well-wishers attend inaugural mass

- TOM WATLING

Pope Leo XIV has taken aim at autocrats causing war and unrest across the globe, in his first speech after his inauguration as the head of the Catholic Church.

Addressing hundreds of thousands of well-wishers yesterday, including dozens of world leaders and European royalty, during a mass in St Peter’s Square, Leo said he believed his role as the new pontiff was to “shield the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him”.

He said he wanted to be a servant to the faithful through the two dimensions of the papacy: love and unity.

“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. The Vatican underlined this line in the English translation given to the media ahead of the speech, suggesting its centrality to the new pontiff’s address.

He added that the world “must not close itself off into small groups”.

“We are called to offer God’s love to everyone in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel our differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people,” he said.

“Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love. The heart of the gospel is the love of God that makes us brothers and sisters.

With my predecessor Leo XIII, we can ask ourselves today, if this criterion were to prevail in the world, would not every conflict cease and peace return?