• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Pope Leo XIV receives a pallium, a woolen band symbolizing his role a shepherd of the universal church, from Italian Cardinal Mario Zenari during his inauguration Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican May 18, 2025. (CNS photo/Kendall McLaren)

Pope’s inauguration Mass is sign of unity for whole church, Archbishop Lori says

May 18, 2025
By Christopher Gunty
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Vatican

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Archbishop William E. Lori said it was a beautiful sight to see the whole church celebrate the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square on a picture-perfect May morning in Rome.

The archbishop was one of many prelates to concelebrate the Mass May 18, which was attended by tens of thousands under blue skies and bright clouds. Before the Mass, the new pope circled St. Peter’s Square in the white popemobile for the first time since his election May 8.

Archbishop William E. Lori and his priest-secretary Father James Bors pose for a photo in the sacristy of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. They were present at the May 18, 2025, inauguration of Pope Leo XIV. (Courtesy Father James Bors)

“It really is the gathering of the Universal Church,” Archbishop Lori told the Catholic Review via Zoom from Rome. “It really is every land, every culture, every nation, every language, and it’s a beautiful thing to see the Universal Church come together.”

He said it was moving to see how the ministry of Peter, the first pope, continues. Pope Leo is “not simply the new bishop of Rome. He is the successor of St. Peter and to see the symbols of his office bestowed upon him, especially the pallium and the ring, was very, very moving.”

Italian Cardinal Mario Zenari placed a woolen band called a pallium over the shoulders of the new pontiff. The band includes five black crosses, representing the wounds of Christ. Metropolitan archbishops wear a pallium to represent their role as shepherds, and the pope wears one particularly to emphasize his pastoral responsibility for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. 

Archbishop Lori recalled when he received the pallium when he became archbishop of Baltimore in 2012. He said he could not imagine how Pope Leo XIV felt accepting that responsibility for the universal flock. 

“I can’t imagine how our Holy Father felt, except this: what I know of him is that he is a true disciple of the Lord. He has deep faith and true trust in Christ and the Holy Spirit. And while it is a heavy burden, I believe that he will draw great strength from Christ and from the people who have been entrusted to his care,” the archbishop said. 

“So, it’s an awe-inspiring moment. It is a weighty responsibility. Yet, not even the pope walks alone. The Lord is with him, and God’s people are with him.”

The archbishop was touched that, in his homily, Pope Leo expressed tender love for Pope Francis, noting that when he died, the faithful felt like sheep without a shepherd. He appreciated the way Pope Leo said he was elected the 267th successor of Peter through no merit of his own. “I think he approaches the office with both humility and with serenity, as far as one can see,” he said.

Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, smiles as he celebrates his inauguration Mass at the Vatican May 18, 2025. He is the first American pope in history. (OSV News photo/Claudia Greco, Reuters)

The pope’s homily, as did his first message after his election, emphasized unity, which the archbishop characterized as “bringing us all together under the banner of Christ” in faith and in love. 

“He made a very special point of saying that the church ought to be a sign and cause of unity for humanity itself, which he described as being beset by discord and by violence,” Archbishop Lori said. “And he spoke about the church’s responsibility not only to be unified for the sake of its mission of evangelization, but also as a sacrament of the unity God wills for all humanity.”

He thinks the Holy Spirit guided the cardinals in their selection of the former Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, who was born in Chicago and became an Augustinian priest before eventually serving as a bishop in Peru. “What really brings me a lot of joy is that he is and was a missionary priest and a missionary bishop. It is, I think, a tremendous asset to bring to the papacy and to the universal mission of the church,” Archbishop Lori said.

Among the throngs in the square for the Mass were four seminarians from the Archdiocese of Baltimore who are studying for the priesthood at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, just up the Janiculum Hill from the Vatican. Deacon Thomas O’Donnell, who is scheduled to be ordained to the priesthood in June, was one of them. He said almost all of the 150 men at the NAC attended the Mass. One of the college’s professors, Mark S. Glafke, proclaimed the second reading at the Mass in English.

Archbishop Lori will return to Baltimore by way of Providence, R.I., where he will participate May 20 in the installation of Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, who has served as auxiliary bishop of Baltimore since 2020. “We shall miss him dearly, but he will be a great bishop of Providence,” the archbishop said.

Email Christopher Gunty at editor@CatholicReview.org.

Read More Local News

Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9

Driver arrested after crashing into entrance of Esperanza Center

Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

Radio Interview: Youth ministry changing with the times

Copyright © 2025 Catholic Review Media

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Christopher Gunty

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

  • Detroit archbishop fires theologians Ralph Martin, Eduardo Echeverría from seminary

  • Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

  • Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

  • Archbishop Wenski leads Knights on Bikes to pray rosary at Alligator Alcatraz

| Latest Local News |

Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9

Driver arrested after crashing into entrance of Esperanza Center

Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

| Latest World News |

Jubilee of Youth chance to celebrate hope, fraternity in world at war, panel says

New York archdiocese sees hundreds of responses to ‘Called By Name’ program

Can’t afford a Catholic college? Think again. Many offer full tuition options

Detroit archbishop fires theologians Ralph Martin, Eduardo Echeverría from seminary

LA archbishop, joined by business leaders, starts fund to help families affected by ICE raids

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Jubilee of Youth chance to celebrate hope, fraternity in world at war, panel says
  • New York archdiocese sees hundreds of responses to ‘Called By Name’ program
  • Can’t afford a Catholic college? Think again. Many offer full tuition options
  • Detroit archbishop fires theologians Ralph Martin, Eduardo Echeverría from seminary
  • LA archbishop, joined by business leaders, starts fund to help families affected by ICE raids
  • FBI surveilled SSPX priest amid probe of suspected neo-Nazi’s plans for violence
  • Poland’s ‘living memorial’ to St. John Paul II marks 25 years of transforming lives
  • Our faith is not afraid of questions
  • Catholic ‘American Ninja Warrior’ fights world hunger, one obstacle at a time

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en