As white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel on Thursday evening, a crowd of more than 150,000 people surged into the area around St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican confirmed that Cardinal Robert Prevost, born in Chicago, had been elected as the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV. Italian leaders sent the new pope letters of support.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was among the first to write to the new pontiff, offering congratulations “with filial affection.” She also highlighted the pressing global need for peace.
“Holy Father, I offer you my personal congratulations and those of the Italian Government for your election to the Throne of Peter,” Meloni wrote. She went on to say that “the world is in desperate need” of peace – a theme echoed in Pope Leo’s first public address from the loggia of St. Peter’s, where he spoke of unity, compassion, and bridge-building.
Meloni also referenced the late Pope Francis, noting that Pope Leo’s message continued the late pontiff’s “incessant and tireless action” for global peace.
President Mattarella’s letter to the pope
President Sergio Mattarella added his own tribute, underlining Italy’s support for the vision of a more just and humane world articulated by the new pope. In a letter to Leo XIV, Mattarella described the pope’s call for peace as “the hope of all humanity.”
“In this historical moment, in which so much of the world is devastated by inhuman conflicts where it is above all the innocent who suffer the harshest consequences of such barbarity,” Mattarella wrote, “I wish to assure you of the Italian Republic’s commitment to pursuing ever more solid relations with the Holy See.”
The president praised the new pope’s vision of a world based on peace, dignity, and freedom, promising that Italy would continue to work closely with the Vatican in the promotion of these shared values.
Pope Leo XIV, who previously served in Peru and was known for his work with the poor and marginalised, addressed the crowd in Italian and Spanish. He offered a message of “a disarmed, disarming, humble peace.” He made no remarks in English, despite his US roots.
As celebrations continued in St. Peter’s Square and beyond, the Vatican prepared for what will be a challenging papacy. Pope Leo inherits a Church navigating a fractured world – with ongoing wars, humanitarian crises, and sharp divisions even within the Catholic community. Yet his election and first words appear to have struck a hopeful chord, both in Italy and around the globe.
