The enthronement ceremony of Pope Leo XIV today meets heads of state around the world with the more than 200,000 parishioners that are expected to go to the event, which will take place in the Plaza de San Pedro under the protection of some 5,000 security agents. No world event brings together so many and so diverse political and economic leaders. The visible powers and those that are in the shadow. For more than a millennium, the rise of a new pontiff is an opportunity for international diplomacy. The inauguration will aim to gather the leaders and faithful under the new papal motto: “In Iillo one unum” (“In the only one, we are one”), reflection of the Augustinian spiritual inheritance of the Holy Father. The great absent will be the US president, Donald Trump, who has just left his messianic tour in Saudi Arabia by the hand of the heir prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, who ordered the murder of the New York Times journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. Moreover, the tycoon will ignore the ceremony after having viralized an image of himself dressed as a pontiff. Its absence is significant. Leo XIV is the first pontiff born in the United States, the fourth country with more Catholics in the world. However, Trumpist’s hard wing distrusts a Pope to whom they see as a Marxist agent.
Instead, the vice president, JD Vance, and the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, both Catholics. It is unknown if they will have the opportunity to meet with the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, who has already confirmed his presence. Last week the Ukrainian President and Leo XIV held a telephone conversation in which the Pope promised to support a fair and lasting peace.
One of the most controversial attendees will be the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog. The Hebrew country barely had representation during the funeral of Pope Francis, whose pontificate was very critical of the invasion ordered by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamín Netanyahu, after the massive attack of Hamas against civilians of October 7, which began a conflict that the predecessor of Leo XIV came to ask that he investigated as a possible “genocide”, which he won him much. Therefore, it is very possible that Herzog’s presence is an attempt at Tel Aviv to reestablish relations with the Catholic Church.
With or without heads of state, Europe will be the continent that will have the greatest political presence. From representatives of the European Union to presidents and prime ministers such as the Austrian, Anthony Albanese, who assured before the media of his country that he wants to “reconnect with his Catholic heritage.” The Dutch prime minister, Dick Schoof, will be one of the two representatives of the Netherlands, as he will attend with Queen Máxima. The Royal Houses will be on the front line to see how Leo XIV receives the fisherman’s ring and the Pallium, the symbols of the Church to represent the pastoral authority and apostolic continuity of the Vicar of Christ. His Majesty The King of Spain, Felipe VI, will do so with Queen Letizia following the very long Spanish Bourbon tradition of support to the Vatican. The royal houses of Belgium and Monaco have also confirmed their assistance. United Kingdom, whose Anglican tradition began when King Henry VIII decided to separate from Rome to create the Church of England, will send Eduardo, Duke of Edinburgh. The British crown has chosen the younger brother of the monarch, Carlos III, because it presents a more discreet profile than that of Prince William.
Latin America, bastion of Catholicism, will also have great representation. Among the prominent will be the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, the leader of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, the President of the Paraguayan Republic, Santiago Peña and, for Mexico, the Secretary of the Interior, Rosa Icela Rodríguez. The assistance of the Peruvian president, Dina Boluarte, will be especially emotional. In that country the Pope formed as a missionary and then ascended to Bishop of Chiclayo. For his part, the always controversial president of Argentina, Javier Milei, will not attend the ceremony after canceling his trip to focus on the legislative elections of Buenos Aires. The advent of Leo XIV will mark the beginning of a pontificate who seeks to reinforce the ties of the Vatican with the international community, following the geopolitical approach of his predecessor: social justice, ecumenism and the defense of human rights.
