Anthony Albanese has donned a wide-brimmed Akubra while representing Australia at Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration mass, before holding meetings with world leaders on the sidelines.

Pope Leo XIV was installed as the 267th leader of the Catholic Church on Sunday evening (AEST) in an outdoor mass in Rome.

The event was witnessed by tens of thousands of worshippers, world leaders and royals such as Britain’s Prince William.

US Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert who clashed with former Pope Francis over the White House’s hardline immigration policies, led a US delegation alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also Catholic.

Vance briefly shook hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the start of the ceremony.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wore a very Australian accessory at the outdoor ceremony and afterwards met the pope and shook his hand.

Albanese said it was an honour to meet the pope in person.

“I spoke to him about my mother would be, as I’m sure, looking down from heaven with the biggest smile she’s ever had,” said Albanese.

“The fact that her son was at the inaugural mass of a pope.”

Albanese, who is also Catholic, told media he did not often talk about his religious views but they had helped inform his politics.

“One of my first memories is of Pope Paul VI visiting Pyrmont Bridge Road, Camperdown, across the road from my house,” he said.

“My mum took me across to get close to Pope Paul.

“It was one of the very important moments in my mum’s life. I was just a little kid at the time.”

The sidelines of the historic event was also a hive of diplomatic activity with so many world leaders converged in Rome.

Albanese advanced Australia’s domestic and foreign policy agenda as part of his whirlwind two-and-a-half-day visit.

He met with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen, who said Europe wanted to broaden its defence ties with Australia.

Citing the fact that world “geopolitical tensions have massively increased”, von der Leyen said Europe would like a security and defence partnership with Australia.

“The good thing is, Australia and Europe are reliable partners. We’re predictable. We share the same values,” she said.

“And this is the reason also that we do not only see you as a trading partner, but we see you as a strategic partner, and we would very much like to broaden this strategic partnership.”

The war in Ukraine and trade were also on the agenda.

The prime minister said he supported a trade deal with the Europeans if it was in Australia’s interests.

Canada and the EU have felt the brunt of US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs, and Albanese will attempt to revive free trade negotiations with the EU, which broke down in 2023.

Pope urges unity

In his sermon, read in fluent Italian, Leo said he would not shrink before modern challenges as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics and would continue the legacy of Pope Francis on issues such as combating poverty and protecting the environment.

Leo said the cardinals who elected him had chosen someone “capable of preserving the rich heritage of the Christian faith and, at the same time, looking to the future in order to confront the questions, concerns and challenges of today’s world”.

Francis’s papacy left a divided church, with conservatives accusing him of sowing confusion, particularly with his extemporaneous remarks on issues of sexual morality such as same-sex unions.

Saying he was taking up his mission “with fear and trembling”, Leo used the words “unity” or “united” seven times and the word “harmony” four times.

“It is never a question of capturing others by force, by religious propaganda or by means of power. Instead, it is always and only a question of loving, as Jesus did,” he said in an apparent reference to a war of words between conservative and progressive Catholics.

“Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.”

Conservatives also accused Francis of being a heavy-handed ruler who belittled their concerns and did not consult widely before making decisions.

Leo received two symbolic items as part of the ceremony: a liturgical vestment known as a pallium, a sash of lambswool representing his role as a shepherd, and the “fisherman’s ring”, recalling the first Pope, St Peter, who was a fisherman.

The ceremonial gold signet ring is specially cast for each new Pope and can be used by Leo to seal documents.

It shows St Peter holding the keys to heaven and will be broken after his death or resignation.

-with AAP