Pope Leo XIV on his popemobile tours St. Peter's Square at the Vatican prior to the inaugural Mass of his pontificate, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV vowed Sunday to work for unity in a polarized Catholic Church and world, as history’s first American pope offered a message of healing during an inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square before an estimated 200,000 pilgrims, presidents, patriarchs and princes.

Leo officially opened his pontificate by taking his first popemobile tour through the piazza, a rite of passage that has become synonymous with the papacy’s global reach and mediatic draw. The 69-year-old Augustinian missionary smiled and waved from the back of the truck to people waving U.S., Peruvian and other national flags, and stop

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