Prime Minister Mark Carney plans to travel to Rome, Italy, this weekend to attend the inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Carney will be in Italy from May 16 to 19 to attend the Mass. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected pope in the fourth vote of the conclave that ended the evening of May 8. His inaugural Mass will take place in St. Peter’s Square on May 18. While in Rome, the prime minister will also meet with other world leaders to “discuss deepening trade, commerce, and cultural ties.” Carney will return to Canada in time for Parliament to resume on May 26.
Carney, who is Catholic, congratulated the pope on May 7, saying Canadians offer “best wishes to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV as he begins his papacy.” Carney added that at a time of “profound global challenges,” he hoped the pontificate would be “marked by wisdom, discernment, a deep commitment to common good, and dignity of all.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre
said in a statement that he joined with Catholics in Canada and across the world in “expressing our best wishes and prayers for Pope Leo XIV as he takes his place as the 266th successor of St. Peter.”
Poilievre said he hoped that as the first pope to be from North America, Pope Leo XIV’s tenure would be “particularly meaningful” for Canadian Catholics. “May his tenure as Supreme Pontiff help lead the Catholic Church to renew the faith of its members, and help promote peace, justice and truth throughout the world,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV, 69, was born in Chicago and spent many years of his ministry in Latin America, including coming to the conclave as the Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo, Peru. He was twice elected superior general of the Augustinian order.
He was then appointed to be the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America by the late Pope Francis on Jan. 30, 2023. In September of that year, he was elevated to the rank of cardinal.
The Roman Catholic Church had been in a period of “sede vacante,” which translates to “the seat is vacant,” since Pope Francis, 88, died on April 21.
The White House has not yet said if U.S. President Donald Trump will attend. Carney met with Trump in Washington on May 6, where the two discussed the Canada-U.S. trade and defence relationship, as well as international affairs like the war in Ukraine and the Gaza War.
