Pope Leo XIV declares 'I am Roman!' as he completes formalities to become bishop of Rome
ROME: Pope Leo XIV declared himself a Roman on Sunday as he completed the final ceremonial steps cementing his role as the bishop of Rome.
The first American pope formally took possession of the St. John Lateran Basilica, which is Rome's cathedral and seat of the diocese, with an evening Mass attended by Roman priests and faithful.
He then took the popemobile for a visit to St. Mary Major, where he prayed before Pope Francis' tomb and an icon of the Virgin Mary beloved to many Roman faithful.
In his homily, Leo said he wanted to listen to them 'in order to learn, understand and decide things together.'
One of the many titles that Leo assumed when he was elected May 8 was bishop of Rome. Given his responsibilities running the 1.4-billion strong universal Catholic Church, popes delegate the day-to-day governance of running of the diocese of Roman to a vicar.
Sunday's ceremonies at the St. John Lateran and a stop at St. Mary Major basilicas follow Leo's visit last week to the St. Paul Outside the Walls basilica. Together with St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, the four papal basilicas are the most important basilicas in the West.
Rome's Mayor Roberto Gualtieri welcomed Leo first at the steps to City Hall, noting that his May 8 election fell during a Holy Year, an event occurring every 25 years to invite pilgrims to Rome. The city underwent two years of traffic-clogging public works projects to prepare and expects to welcome upward of 30 million people in 2025.
Leo said he felt the 'serious but passionate responsibility' to serve all Romans during the Holy Year and beyond.
Wearing his formal red papal cape and brocaded stole, Leo recalled the words he had uttered from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica on the night of his election. The Augustinian pope quoted St. Augustine in saying: 'With you I am Christian, and for you, bishop.'
'By special title, today I can say that for you and with you I am Roman!' Leo said.
The former Robert Prevost succeeded Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope. Francis died April 21 and is buried at St. Mary Major, near the icon of the Madonna known as the Salus Populi Romani.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
31 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Trump travel ban: Will Iran travel for 2026 FIFA World Cup?
USA, Canada, and Mexico are all set to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup together. However, President Donald Trump's latest travel ban has posed questions about whether certain qualified countries will now be allowed to travel to the US and take part. Starting Monday (June 9), citizens of 12 countries will no longer be allowed to get a US visa, according to a recent decision by Trump. Citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen have been banned by Trump and tighter restrictions have been applied to seven other nations (Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela). Trump explained his move by stating in a video, 'The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country, by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas. We don't want them.' As of now, Iran is the only country from the list to have already qualified to compete in the FIFA World Cup next year. Cuba, Sudan, and Haiti are currently in contention to contest. Venezuela is five points off the threshold for automatic qualification but a playoff might just cut the deal. Sierra Leone can still be involved through multiple playoff games while Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, and Libya have very slim chances. Under the current policy, sports teams of qualifying countries should still be able to contest since such a provision have been provided for 'any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the secretary of state.' However, this exception will only continue as long as there is no change to the current ban policy adopted by the US. Iranian fans hoping to catch their national team in the spotlight won't be so lucky however since the policy provides no such exceptions for fans of sporting teams. Getting an American visa had already been tough for Iranians even before the ban was implemented due to tougher vetting procedures. However, considering how those indulging in international travel for sporting events are usually from a higher wealth bracket, such individuals could still try to circumvent the process by using different passport options. The move has stirred a debate about the intersection of politics with global sport. Back in 2017, FIFA President Gianni Infantino had said, "Any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup." Infantino has since developed close ties with Trump and has re-emphasized that sporting teams of all countries will face no barriers in coming to the US for participation next year. The event is expected to raise a majority of the soccer body's revenue in the 2023-2026 period. Questions have also been raised about the US' legitimacy to hold the upcoming 2028 Olympic Games with such strict travel policies against certain participating countries.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Andhra govt, Nvidia sign MoU to launch AI university, train 10K students
The Government of Andhra Pradesh on Friday announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with American chipmaker Nvidia to set up a proposed Artificial Intelligence (AI) university in the state. The agreement focuses on skills training, research, infrastructure development, and support for start-ups. The announcement follows a meeting between Andhra Pradesh IT and Electronics Minister Nara Lokesh and Nvidia CEO Jenson Huang in Mumbai in October 2024, during which suggestions for establishing the university were discussed. Creating an AI ecosystem Under the MoU, the government and Nvidia aim to train 10,000 engineering students across Andhra Pradesh over the next two years. Nvidia will also provide curriculum support and technical training materials to assist engineering colleges in delivering AI education. To enhance research and development activities, Nvidia will help identify and establish AI research centres across the state. These centres will address key technological challenges and foster the development of practical applications. 'This partnership with Nvidia marks a decisive step in our vision to position Andhra Pradesh as a national leader in artificial intelligence. By equipping 10,000 students with cutting-edge AI skills and supporting our startup ecosystem, we are laying the foundation for a future-ready economy driven by innovation, research, and entrepreneurship,' said Lokesh. Vishal Dhupar, managing director for Asia South at Nvidia, said, 'We are proud to collaborate with the Government of Andhra Pradesh in building a strong and inclusive AI ecosystem. This initiative reflects our commitment to democratising access to AI education, accelerating research, and enabling startups to innovate at scale. Together, we aim to create a model that can inspire similar efforts across the country.' AI factories to be established Nvidia will also advise on establishing AI factories — hubs focused on innovation and talent development. The state government, in turn, plans to support up to 500 AI-focused start-ups in applying to Nvidia's Inception Programme.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Mediation between two unequals not possible: Tharoor on Trump's claims
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has said that to suggest one can mediate between two unequals is not possible because there is no equivalence between terrorists and their victims, amid repeated claims by US President Donald Trump that he "helped settle" the tensions between India and Pakistan. Tharoor, currently in the US leading a multi-party delegation on Operation Sindoor, made the comments in response to a question during a conversation at the Council on Foreign Relations here Thursday. "Mediation is not a term that we are particularly willing to entertain. I'll tell you why not. The fact is that this implies, even when you say things like broker or whatever, you're implying an equivalence which simply doesn't exist," Tharoor said. He said there is no equivalence between terrorists and their victims. "There is no equivalence between a country that provides safe haven to terrorism, and a country that's a flourishing multi-party democracy that's trying to get on with its business," he said. "There is no equivalence between a state that is a status quo power that just wants to be left alone by its neighbours, where the neighbours don't agree with us, and a revisionist power that wants to upset the geopolitical arrangements that have existed for the last three-quarters of a century. There is no equivalence possible in these cases, and in these circumstances, to suggest that you can mediate between two unequals is not possible, Tharoor added. Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire after a long night of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over a dozen times that he helped settle the tensions between India and Pakistan. He has also claimed that he told the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours that America would do a lot of trade with them if they stopped the conflict. On being asked how he would characterize the American role in the conflict, Tharoor said he is "guessing to some degree that the American role would have been first of all to keep themselves informed, conversations on both sides, and certainly my government received a number of calls at high levels from the US government, and we appreciated their concern and their interest. He said that at the same time, the US must have been making similar calls at the highest levels to the Pakistan side, and our assumption is that's where, because that's the side that needed persuading to stop this process, that may well have been where their messages really had the greatest effect. But that's guesswork on my part. I don't know what they said to the Pakistanis. Trump repeated the claim as recently as Thursday when during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office, the US President said that he is very proud" that he was able to stop the conflict between nuclear powers India and Pakistan. I spoke to some very talented people on both sides, very good people on both sides and said that Washington will not do any trade deals with either if you are going to go shooting each other and whipping out nuclear weapons that may be even affect us. Because you know that nuclear dust blows across oceans very quickly, it affects us," Trump said. You know what, I got that war am I going to get credit? I'm not going to get credit for anything. They don't give me credit for anything. But nobody else could have done it. I stopped it. I was very proud of that, Trump added. About two weeks after the horrific April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 civilians were killed, India launched Operation Sindoor targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 7. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes. India has been maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
