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THE king and queen of Spain attended Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural mass at the Vatican on Sunday as the new pontiff declared that he wanted the Catholic church to be a ‘small leaven of unity’ in a time of ‘too much discord and too many wounds’.
King Felipe, Queen Letizia and a number of other world leaders attended the ceremony that marked the official start of papacy by Chicago-born cardinal Robert Prevost. Prevost is the first US pope to be elected in the Roman Catholic Church’s history.
Vance and US Vice-President J.D. Vance attended as well. Both men reportedly talked about a pending phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as both sides prepare to hold peace talks following three years of conflict.
Around 150,000 pilgrims visited St Peter’s Square in order to witness the historic mass.
READ MORE American Pope Leo celebrates his first mass in Vatican City as pontiff
Leo said in Italian: “I have been chosen without merit, and I now come to you with fear and trembling as a Brother, who wants to be your servant, to share your faith, your joy and to walk with you along the path of God’s love. He wants us to all be united into one family.”
He continued: “In the present time we still see a lot of discord. Too many wounds are caused by hate, violence, racism, prejudice and the fear to be different. And an economic paradigm which exploits Earth’s resources, marginalising the poorest.
“We want to be, for our part, a small leaven that brings unity, fraternity, and communion into the world. We want to say with humility and joy to the world: look at Christ. “Come nearer to him.”
The King and Queen were given front row seats for the event, as they had been for Pope Francis’ funeral last month.
This was the couple’s second appearance at a mass celebrating the start of a pontificate. The couple attended Pope Francis’ inaugural Mass in March 2013 as princes and princesses.
READ MORE: Spain’s King Felipe pays glowing tribute to Pope Francis, praising his emphasis on ‘loving neighbours’
Letizia was wearing black at the time, but she followed tradition as queen and wore white.
Queen Letizia is one of just seven women in the world who have the ‘privilege of the white’ – the rule allows the ladies to wear white when meeting the Pope.
This privilege is only available to a few Catholic royals. These include Letizia the queen of Spain, Queen Sofia, wife of Juan Carlos and mother of Felipe VI, Paola the queen of Belgium, Maria Teresa, grand-duchess of Luxembourg, Charlene, princesses of Monaco, Mathilde queen of Belgium, and Marina princess of Naples.
All white was worn by Queen Letizia and Princess Charlene in Monaco as well as Queen Mathilde from Belgium to the Pope Leo Mass.
The normal protocol for women attending papal audiences is to wear a long, black dress with long sleeves and high collar.
Queen Letizia wore an all-white dress from Spanish fashion outlet Redondo Brand. The dress was accompanied by white shoes, a bag and earrings with an Australian Pearl.
