By Myke Agunwa
Pope Leo XIV will be inaugurated on Sunday, May 18, 2925, in St Peter’s Square, The Vatican announced on Saturday via it X handle.
Several world leaders and religious leaders are expected gather for the event which will be held 10 days after the election of Robert Francis Prevost as the first United States head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
The Vatican said the new pontiff will meet with journalists on Monday and with diplomats accredited to the Holy See the following Friday.
His first general audience will be on Wednesday May 21, 2025, and he will meet with members of the Roman Curia, top Vatican officials, on May 24, 2025.
Cardinal Robert Prevost, an American-born cleric and seasoned Vatican official, was elected Pope on Thursday, May 8, 2025, taking the name Leo XIV.
The inauguration of his predecessor, late Pope Francis of blessed memory, was on 19 March 2013 in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican. The crowd in attendance was estimated between 150,000 and 200,000. Official delegations from 132 states and various religious groups attended. It was the first papal inauguration attended by the Patriarch of Constantinople in over 1,000 years.