Papal Inauguration Mass

Papal Inauguration

Until 1978 the pope's election was followed in a few days by the Papal coronation. A procession with great pomp and circumstance formed from the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter's Basilica, with the newly elected pope borne in the sedia gestatoria. There, after a solemn Papal Mass, the new pope was crowned with the triregnum (papal tiara) and he gave the the papal blessing Urbi et Orbi ("to the City [of Rome] and to the World"). Another renowned part of the coronation was the lighting of a bundle of flax at the top of a gilded pole, which would flare brightly for a moment and then promptly extinguish, with the admonition Sic transit gloria mundi ("Thus passes worldly glory"). A similar warning against papal hubris made on this occasion was the traditional exclamation "Annos Petri non videbis", reminding the newly crowned pope that he would not live to see his rule lasting as long as that of St. Peter, who according to tradition headed the church for 35 years and has thus far been the longest reigning pope in the history of the Catholic Church.

A traditionalist Catholic belief claims the existence of a Papal Oath sworn, at their coronation, by all popes from Pope Agatho to Pope Paul VI, but which since the abolition of the coronation ceremony is no longer used. There is no reliable authority for this claim.

Since 1978, starting with John Paul I new popes have refused coronation and opted for the simpler inauguration mass. While the rituals used for the inaugurations of Popes John Paul I and John Paul II were provisional ad hoc rites, the one used for Pope Benedict XVI was not. A provisional rite drafted under John Paul II was used and was subsequently approved as a definitive ordo in 2005 by Benedict XIV a day after his election.  

The Ordo Rituum pro Ministerii Petrini Initio Romae Episcopi thus approved in 2005 contains not only the rite of the Mass of the Inauguration, but also that of the Mass of the Enthronement of the new Pope on the Cathedra Romana, the chair of the Bishop of Rome, in the Lateran Basilica, Rome's cathedral and the Roman Catholic Church's primary Basilica, outranking even the Vatican Basilica. Popes usually take possession of the Lateran Basilica within a few days of the inauguration of the pontificate.

The key features of the Papal Inauguration are:

  The modern papal inauguration, developed from the form used for John Paul I, takes place during Mass (usually in the piazza outside Saint Peter's Basilica). 

The ceremony begins with the Pope and the cardinals kneeling at the Tomb of Saint Peter beneath the high altar of Saint Peter's Basilica. The popes are, according to Catholic dogma, the successors of Saint Peter, the first head of the Church in Rome. They begin by praying at the tomb to give him homage and ask his prayers. 

The Pope and the cardinals then go in procession to Saint Peter's Square for the inauguration Mass while the Litany of the Saints is chanted, asking their help for the new Pope.

The new pope starts the mass by venerating and incensing the alter in the usual way. 

Pallium & Fisherman’s Ring

Seated on the throne, the Pope receives the pallium and the Ring of the Fisherman. The cardinal protodeacon, formally bestows the pallium, the symbol of the pope's universal jurisdiction, on the Pope. The Dean of the College of Cardinals presents the Ring of the Fisherman to the Pope.

Act of Homage

Pope Benedict XVI shortened the ceremony of homage previously paid at a papal inauguration by each cardinal individually. Instead of having each of the more than one hundred cardinals kneel before the Pope individually to do him homage, twelve people, lay as well as clerical are chosen to do so. 

At Benedict XVI’s inauguration, the twelve were the senior Cardinal bishop, the Cardinal protopriest, the Cardinal protodeacon, the bishop of Benedict's former suburbicarian diocese of Velletri-Segni, the priest serving as pastor of Benedict's former titular church when he was a Cardinal priest, a deacon, a religious brother, a Benedictine nun, a married couple from Korea, and a young woman from Sri Lanka and a young man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, each of whom had been recently confirmed.

The newly inaugurated pope then continues to celebrate the pontifical high mass in the usual way.

After the Ceremony 

After Mass, the Pope then proceeds inside St. Peter's Basilica, before the main altar to greet various delegations present for his inauguration. 

In the days following, he will visit the other major basilicas of Rome. He will also take possession of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, his cathedral church at a scheduled later date.