Pope Leo XIV broke a major rule at his inaugural mass today as he arrived in his popemobile.
Royals, world leaders and Catholics are gathered in Vatican City’s St Peter’s Square to attend Leo’s historic Sunday mass service.
The newly elected Pope Leo, 69, arrived at around 8.15am and could be seen addressing the crowd from his open-top popemobile.
Similarly to predecessor Pope Francis, Chicago-born Leo has chosen to ditch the bulletproof glass protections usually offered to pontiffs.
The first ‘official’ popemobile was a Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 460 Pullman given to Pope Pius XI in 1930, and came with plush silk carpeting and doves embossed on the exterior. Its famous nickname came later in the 1970s.
It was introduced as a key way to interact with followers, but after an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981, it was modified to also act as a defence vehicle.
Mehmet Ali Agca was a hitman and former member of Turkish far-right group the Grey Wolves.
He was imprisoned for the murder of Abdi Ipekci, who was the editor-in-chief of a Turkish newspaper in February 1979, but escaped and travelled to Vatican City on May 13, 1981 to assassinate Pope John Paul.
The newly elected Pope Leo, 69, arrived at around 8.15am and could be seen addressing the crowd from his open-top popemobile
Bodyguards hold Pope John Paul II after he was shot on May 13, 1981, in St Peter’s Square by a Turkish extremist Mehmet Ali Agca
Mehmet Ali Agca (pictured) was a hitman and former member of Turkish far-right group the Grey Wolves who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II
Agca opened fire and shot the Pope four times as he was greeting worshippers in St Peter’s Square, leaving him seriously injured.
The gunman was sentenced to 29 years in jail for the shooting and for murdering the newspaper editor and now lives in Istanbul.
After the attack, popemobiles were fitted with bulletproof glass and heavy armour to protect the pontiffs from any further attempts on their lives.
The late Pope Francis was the first to turn down the security measures when he was elected in 2013, instead opting for a open-top, unlike Pope Benedict who came before him.
In 2014, he told Spanish media he didn’t like the glass ‘sardine can’ as he felt it put distance between himself and his followers.
Pope Leo’s decision to keep the same exposed design signals another break from tradition after the American pontiff opted to speak English at his first mass in the Sistine Chapel following his election on May 9.
English is hardly ever used as the opening language of a papal homily, particularly in such a formal and symbolic moment like the first mass.
Addressing the cardinals in his Chicago accent, Leo explained he would sing a new song to the Lord before continuing the rest of his mass in Italian.
Pope Leo XIV waves to the crows as he tours St Peter’s on the popemobile
Pope Francis waves to the crowd from his popemobile after the Easter mass at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican on April 20, 2025
Pope Benedict XVI arrives escorted by Polish police under heavy rain on his popemobile at Warsaw’s Pilsudski Square to celebrate a Holy Mass in May 2006
Pope Leo XIV waves as he arrives ahead of the inauguration mass
Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful as people hand him babies as he arrives in the popemobile
Pope Leo XIV attending his inaugural mass in St Peter’s Square this morning
Pope Leo XIV leads a Holy Mass for the beginning of his pontificate — May 18, 2025
The Clergy at their seats during the Inauguration Mass of Pope Leo XIV
As he arrived for his inaugural mass today, Leo waved from the back of the popemobile which looped slowly through the square as the crowd waved flags and cheered ‘Viva il Papa!’.
Born in Chicago, the pontiff spent many years as a missionary in Peru and also has Peruvian citizenship, meaning he is also the first pontiff tied to that South American nation.
One person in the crowd shouted out ‘White Sox, White Sox,’ referring to the Chicago baseball team at the bottom of the American League standings.
It was here that Francis took his last popemobile ride on Easter Sunday, and it was on the back of a popemobile that Francis’ casket was brought across Rome last month to its final resting place.
Leo, an Augustinian missionary elected on May 8 after a 24-hour conclave, seems a bit more timid than Francis.
But all eyes will be on how he manages the throngs of pilgrims, tourists and curiosity-seekers, and the babies who will inevitably be passed up to him for him to bless.
After the festive public tour in the square, Leo headed into the basilica to begin the solemn ceremony to inaugurate his ministry in a series of rites that emphasise the service that he’s called to perform in leading the Catholic Church.
He prays first at the tomb of St. Peter, considered to be the first pope, under the basilica’s main altar and then processes out into the piazza for the Mass.
