An open-topped popemobile carrying Pope Leo XIV drove through St Peter's Square at the Vatican on Sunday morning, ahead of his inaugural mass.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, history’s first American pope, vowed Sunday to work for unity so that the Catholic Church becomes a sign of peace in the world, offering a message of communion during an inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square before an estimated 150,000 pilgrims, presidents, patriarchs and princes.

Leo preached the need for the world to get over a “fear of difference” during his inaugural mass in a subtle dig at the administration.