Vatican City, Holy See -- Pope Leo XIV gave his first address from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, shortly after being elected on Thursday as the new head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. Here is a translation of the speech, which was delivered in Italian with one part in Spanish. “May peace be with you all. Beloved brothers and sisters. This is the first greeting of the risen Christ, the Good Shepherd, who gave his life for God. I too would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, to reach your families, to all people, wherever they may be, to all peoples, to all the earth. May peace be with you. May peace be with you all, brothers and sisters. May peace be with you all, reach out to all your families, to all peoples, to all. This is the peace of the risen Christ, a disarmed and disarming peace, humble and persevering. It comes from God, God who loves us all, unconditionally. We still have in our ears that faint but always courageous voice of Pope Francis blessing Rome. We have that voice fresh in our ears, in our hearts, hearing the voice of the pope blessing Rome, the people, giving his blessing to the world, to the whole world, that Easter morning. Allow me follow up that same blessing. God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail. We are all in God’s hands. Therefore, without fear, united, hand in hand with God and with each other, let us go forward. We are disciples of Christ, Christ walks ahead of us, the world needs His light. Humanity needs Him as the bridge to be reached by God and His love. You too help us, then each other, to build bridges, with dialogue, with encounter, to be one people always at peace. Thank you Pope Francis. I also want to thank all my brother cardinals who have chosen me to be the successor of Peter and to walk together with you as a united Church, always seeking peace and justice, always seeking to work as men and women faithful to Jesus Christ, without fear, to proclaim the Gospel, to be missionaries. I am a son of St Augustine, an Augustinian, who said, “with you I am a Christian and for you a bishop”. In this sense we can all walk together towards that homeland that God prepared for us. To the Church of Rome, a special greeting. We must seek together how to be a missionary Church, a Church that builds bridges, a dialogue, always open to receive, like this square with open arms, everyone who needs our charity, our presence, dialogue and love. And now a greeting in Spanish, please allow me. A greeting to all and in particular to my dear diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru, where a faithful people have accompanied their bishop, have shared their faith and have given so much, so much to continue to be the faithful Church of Jesus Christ. To all of you, brothers and sisters of Rome, of Italy, of the whole world, we want to be a synodal Church, a Church that walks, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close, especially to those who suffer. Today, the day of supplication to Our Lady of Pompei, our Mother Mary always wants to walk with us, to be close, to help us with her intercession and her love. Now I would like to pray with you for this new mission, for the whole Church, for peace in the world. Let us ask for this special grace of Mary, our Mother. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy sign, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now, at the hour of our death, amen. Amen."
