A new pope’s call to unity

My alarm rings at 3 a.m. I jump out of bed eagerly, still feeling the effects of jet lag but excited for the once-in-a-lifetime experience that awaits me. Ten days after the white smoke appeared above the Vatican, I am about to see Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration mass.

I’ve just arrived in Rome as faculty for a month-long summer program for students at the Catholic liberal arts college where I teach. I’m leading a seminar on Virgil’s Aeneid and auditing the other classes, which include a historical study of Galileo and an art history course that will use Rome’s many churches and museums as a classroom. This is my second visit to Rome but my first time taking in the overwhelming amount of art and history in the Eternal City.

I meet my students in the lobby of Sant’Anselmo, the Benedictine abbey where we are staying, and follow them on a dark walk along the Tiber River. After passing through two layers of Vatican security, we are amazed to have second-row seats to see Leo officially installed as the successor to St. Peter. Around me, the crowd grows. People are waving flags from Ukraine, Nigeria, Chile, India, and so many other countries.