Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass on Sunday near the tomb of St. Peter, hours before he was to deliver his first Sunday noon blessing from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Prince Edward will represent King Charles at Pope Leo XIV ’s inauguration mass, Buckingham Palace has announced. The Duke of Edinburgh will join world leaders at the mass in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, May 18.

The local Peruvian community was still buzzing about the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV — the man who had not too long ago been the humble shepherd of Peru’s Chiclayo diocese. An American born in Chicago, he became a missionary in Peru for many years, being appointed the bishop of Chiclayo in 2014 by Pope Francis.