Pope Leo XIV has this morning greeted the crowds at St Peter's Square before his inaugural Mass where he will receive the pallium and the fisherman's ring.
Tens of thousands of people had streamed into the square in the Vatican City ahead of celebrating history's first American pope with a formal installation ceremony.
Civil protection crews in neon uniforms had earlier funnelled pilgrims into quadrants in the piazza while priests and patriarchs hurried into St Peter's Basilica to get ready for the Mass.
US Vice President JD Vance, one of the last foreign officials to see Pope Francis before he died, paid his respects at the Argentine pope's tomb upon arriving in Rome late Saturday.
Leo, 69, started the day by taking his first tour through the piazza in the popemobile. The open-topped vehicle has become synonymous with the papacy's global reach and mediatic draw, used at home and abroad to bring popes close to their flock.
