The celebration that officially begins to the ministry of a Pope follows precise rules, which have changed over the years, even if there are some symbols that have remained the same. To update the rite was Benedict XIV With a decree of April 20, 2005, in the aftermath of his election, which Pope Francis did not change. Is called ORDO RITUUM PRO MINISTERII PETRINI INITIAL ROMEE Episcopi (Order of rites for the inauguration of the Petrine Ministry of the Bishop of Rome) and takes into account the liturgical reforms following the Second Vatican Council. The main novelty of this agreement consists of distinguish the rites and ceremonial gestures linked to the Petrine Ministry, to be carried out outside the mass and no longer within it. Other news are: a wider musical choice; The visits to the two papal basilicas of San Paolo outside the walls and Santa Maria Maggiore which can be made when the Pontiff will consider most appropriate, even after some time from the election, and in the form that will judge more suitable, be it a mass, the celebration of the liturgy of the hours or a particular liturgical act; The restoration of the individual tribute deed of each cardinal to the new pontiff.
The inauguration mass of the pontificate of Leo XIV It is scheduled Sunday 18 Mayfifth Easter Sunday, in St. Peter’s Square in the presence of about 200 delegations between heads of state, government and sovereigns from all over the world.
DATE – according to an ancient tradition that dates back to the fourth century, the inauguration – At the time there was talk of consecration or blessing – took place on Sunday. So it was for John Paul II (22 October 1978) and Benedict XVI (April 24, 2005). Elected on March 13, 2013, Francesco chose the nearby feast of San Giuseppe (March 19) of which Bergoglio was particularly devoted.
The tribute to the tomb of Pietro – Before the Mass the Pope descends, with the patriarchs of the Oriental Churches, to the sepulcher of San Pietro, surmounted by the splendid and majestic Bronze Bronze Bernini, and stops in prayer. Then he incals the tomb. This ritual, explains the office of the liturgical celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, “He underlines the close link of the bishop of Rome to the apostle Peter and his martyrdom, gathering the people of God, on such a solemn day, in the same place where he confessed his faith with his blood Together with many other Christians who have given the same testimony with him ». In the meantime, the deacons take the pastoral pallium, the fisherman’s ring and the book of the Gospels and bring them together in procession. The Holy Father dates back to the Basilica and joins the procession towards the churchyard of the square where the Eucharistic celebration takes place.
Laudes regiae – During the procession the Laudes regiaewhich replace the entrance song, with which the help of the saints is invoked so that they support the Church and the mission of the Pope. Each invocation is answered: “You illuminated”, “support it” (referring to the Pontiff) and “You illam adiuva”, “Sostale” (referring to the Church). The laudes date back to the early Middle Ages and were also intoned to the incorrectation of Charlemagne.
Sprinkling – At the beginning of the mass, Pope Leo XIV blesses the water and aspergges all the faithful in memory of the baptism.
Readings – The first is taken from the acts of the apostles and is read in Spanish, the second from the first letter of St. Peter Apostle (in English) while the Gospel is proclaimed both in Latin and in Greek and is the song of John in which Jesus asks Pietro three times if he loves him and the affirmative response, he commands him: “Pasci my lambs”. The reference is to the specific mission of the Pope and Bishop of Rome to confirm Catholics from all over the world in faith.
LATIN – The prayers of the Mass are all in Latin, the official language of the Catholic Church, even if there is no lack of other languages. After the creed, the prayer of the faithful is recited. The various intentions are read in Portuguese, French, Arabic, Chinese and Polish.
Provision of seats – Looking at the Basilica, on the left of the churchyard the concelebrants take place: cardinals, bishops and the delegations of the Christian churches. On the right, as always, the delegations of the countries take place, with the heads of state and of government and the sovereigns. The former in the order will be Italy, the United States, the home of the new Pope, and Peru, The “second home” of Leone XIV where he carried out his episcopal ministry. Going down from the churchyard, the representatives of the other religions, concelebrating and seminarian priests sit on the left. On the other hand, on the right, there is the diplomatic body accredited at the Holy See (the set of ambassadors) and the other authorities.
Papmobile – The pontificate start mass is also an opportunity for Leone XIV’s first sponsor’s first lap among the faithful present in St. Peter’s Square. The tour will begin at 9 am, an exact hour before the celebration, as explained by the director of the Vatican press room Matteo Bruni.
Imposition of symbols – At the end of the proclamation of the Gospel they are imposed on the Pope by three cardinals of the three orders (deacons, presbyters and bishops) and of different continents, the pallium and the fisherman ring. Both symbols have a precise historical and symbolic meaning.
Pallium – It is an ancient episcopal sign packaged with lamb wool, evokes thewith a lost sheep that the good shepherd brings back to his shoulders (as we read in the song of the Gospel of Matthew 18, 12-14) And it is described by various testimonies of the Church’s Fathers such as that of Simeone di Tessalonica: “The pallium indicates the Savior who meeting us as the lost sheep if he loads it on his shoulders, and assuming our human nature in the incarnation, divinized it, with his death on the cross he offered us to his father and with the resurrection he enhanced us”. The pallium sinks its origins in the imperial tradition of late antiquity: the emperors and their high officers used to bring scarves. The white wool of which the pallium is woven from two lambs offered on the feast of Sant’Agnese (January 21) and is made by the Benedictine nuns of the convent of Santa Cecilia, in Trastevere. The Pope’s pallium engraved five red crosses and represents its universal mission and communion with the universal church. He teaches the exclusive exclusive of the Supreme Pontiff, starting from the 6th century, the pallium was also delivered by the Pope to those bishops who had received a special jurisdiction from some diocese from the Holy See. The rite opens with this prayer: “The God of Peace, who made the great shepherd of the sheep resurface from the dead the Lord our Jesus Christ, gives you himself the pallium taken from the confession of the apostle Peter. To him the good shepherd has commanded to graze his lambs and his pecorelle and today you succeed Pietro in the episcopate of this church that he generated to faith together with the apostle Paul. The spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, gives abundant inspiration and discernment to your ministry to confirm the brothers in the unity of faith “.
Fisherman ring – It is the sign of the bishop (the Pope is the bishop of Rome). Traditionally, it is golden, it carries the Boat of St. Peter engraved and the name of the Pope. The fisherman’s ring was born in the thirteenth century. The oldest was found in Viterbo in the tomb of Clemente IV (1265-1268). The term refers to the Gospel of Matteo, who tells how Peter and his brother Andrea were made by Christ fishermen of men (4, 19 mt). Pope Francis received one of golden silver, the work of the engraver Enrico Manfrini. In the past, the ring was also used as a seal for the Documenyou. It is destroyed after the death of the pontiff. After the rite of deliveries, the Holy Father blesses the Assembly with the Book of the Gospels, while it is acclaimed in Greek: to Multos Annos!
OBEDIENCE – After the imposition of the pallium and the ring, the symbolic rite of the “obedience” lent to the Pope by twelve representatives of all the categories of the people of God, from various parts of the world, takes place.
Delegations – Among the delegations, the American vice -president are expected JD Vancethe royalty of Spain, Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, the leaders of the EU, the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. Pope Leo XIV will greet all the delegations present at the end of the Mass inside the Basilica of San Pietro.
ALTAR -From the central gate of the Basilica of St. Peter there is the tapestry of miraculous fishing (Jn 21, 1-8), in which the dialogue of Jesus with Peter is depicted, to which the celebration explicitly refers. It is the reproduction of a Flemish manufacture tapestry, built for the Sistine chapel on a cardboard by Raffaello Sanzio and preserved in the Vatican Museums. Next to the altar is the effigy of the Madonna del Buon Council of the Marian Sanctuary of Genazzano (Rome), rectum by the Augustinians, and where Pope Leo XIV went to a private visit two days after his election on 10 May last.
TIARA – Today we no longer speak, because in fact it is not, of coronation of the new pope through the imposition of the papal tiara, or triregno, a particular crown used by the popes starting from the Middle Ages up to the second half of the twentieth century as a symbol of sovereignty. The tiara consisted of three overlapping crowns symbolizing the spiritual, temporal and supreme power While the coronation ceremony in the Middle Ages took place on the churchyard of the Vatican Basilica, in modern times on the loggia. The last pope to be crowned was Paul VI In 1963. A year later, on November 13, 1964, during a liturgy celebrated according to the Byzantine rite, Pope Montini auctioned her to donate the proceeds to the poor and today is kept in the National Sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception of Washington. Since then none of his successors has ever used him and Benedict XVI has also abolished it from the papal coat of arms, replacing it with the bishop’s mitria.
