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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
May 18, 2025 | 12:51pm
Pope Leo XIV meets Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on May 16, 2025.
Vatican Media
MANILA, Philippines — Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will present the Ring of the Fisherman to Pope Leo XIV during his inauguration mass at the Vatican on Sunday, May 18.
The ceremony at St. Peter's Square will formally install the 267th successor to St. Peter, with Vatican officials estimating up to 200,000 pilgrims will attend the 10 a.m. liturgy.
Pope Leo XIV, 69, was elected May 8 following a swift conclave that concluded in just four rounds of voting. The Chicago-born pontiff is the first American pope in the Church's 2,000-year history.
Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Evangelization, will place the ring on Pope Leo XIV, according to the Office of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.
The Ring of the Fisherman serves as the pope's official seal and symbolizes his role as successor to St. Peter, the apostle who was called to be a "fisher of men."
This is seen as a break in tradition as the ring is traditionally presented by the Camerlengo or the Dean of the College of Cardinals.
Pope Leo XIV will also receive the pallium, a white woolen band symbolizing pastoral authority, from Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti — the cardinal who announced the selection of the new pope from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Tagle worked closely with the new pope, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, when both headed major Vatican departments: Tagle leading the Dicastery for Evangelization and Prevost heading the Dicastery for Bishops.
During the conclave, Tagle was seated beside Prevost in the Sistine Chapel. In an interview with Vatican News, he described the moment Prevost reached the two-thirds majority needed for election as a mix of "holy resignation and holy fear."
The Filipino cardinal has earlier described the new pope as "very human, very humble, but very discerning" with a sense of humor and "a loud voice when he laughs."
Pope Leo XIV received Tagle in a private audience on May 16, one week after his election. The new pontiff has also met with other cardinals.
According to a CBCP News report, Tagle is expected to say the following as he bestows the ring:
“Most Holy Father, may Christ, the Son of the living God, the shepherd and guardian of our souls, who built his Church upon rock, grant you the ring, the seal of Peter the Fisherman, who put his hope in him on the sea of Galilee, and to whom the Lord Jesus entrusted the keys of the Kingdom of heaven.”
“Today you succeed the Blessed Apostle Peter as the Bishop of this Church which presides over the unity of charity, as the Blessed Apostle Paul has taught. May the Spirit of charity, poured into our hearts, grant you the gentleness and strength to preserve, through your ministry, all those who believe in Christ in unity and fellowship.”
The Mass is set to start at 4 p.m. Philippine time (10 a.m. GMT). Prior to the Mass, at 3 p.m. (9 a.m. GMT), Pope Leo XIV will greet the crowd in the popemobile — a vehicle commonly used by the late Pope Francis to engage with the faithful.
