Pope Leo faces packed schedule, inherits many events from Francis

By Crispian Balmer

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Leo XIV has only been in the job one day and already faces a packed schedule of religious services, diplomatic meetings and Holy Year events, many of which were organised for his predecessor Francis.

After presiding over a Mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on Friday, his next expected public engagement will be a meeting with cardinals on Saturday followed by midday (1000 GMT) prayers on Sunday from the main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.

The formal inauguration Mass - for the first U.S. pontiff in the 2,000-year history of the Roman Catholic Church - will be held in St. Peter's Square on May 18, the Vatican announced.

Other early commitments will include taking possession of Rome's three basilicas -- St. Paul Outside the Walls on May 20, and St. John Lateran and Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major), where Francis is buried, on May 25.

Before all this, the new pope will meet on May 12 with the thousands of journalists who covered the conclave, and on May 16 he will hold an audience with diplomats accredited to the Holy See, the world's smallest independent state.

His first weekly general audience with the faithful is set for May 21.

Adding to the early workload is the continuation of the 2025 Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, which traditionally occurs every 25 years, drawing millions of pilgrims to Rome for a continuous stream of events. Leo inherits celebrations for that from Francis, who died on April 21 at the age of 88.

Special meetings to celebrate specific groups special to the Church, such as choirs, families and the clergy, are planned from May to the end of the year, including a major youth jubilee from July 28 to August 3.

One of the highlights of the 2025 Catholic calendar is the canonisation of the first saint of the millennial generation, Carlo Acutis. It was set for April 27, but had to be postponed because of Francis' death. A new date has to be fixed.

FOREIGN TRAVEL

New popes can make a huge impression on their first trips abroad and it will be up to Leo to decide his priorities.

But he will have to make a quick decision whether to fulfil a commitment made by Francis to visit Turkey later this month to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of a major Christian council of bishops in ancient Nicaea, now the modern-day town of Iznik.

Going ahead with this trip would mean Leo would swiftly get to see Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church -- a meeting that would symbolize a renewed commitment to Christian unity.

Leo will also inherit the ongoing Synod on Synodality -- a global consultation process launched by Francis in 2021 with the aim of making the Church more inclusive and collaborative.

Ten working groups are due to present findings in June on sensitive topics such as women's roles in the Church. In March, Francis had extended the process through 2028.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Frances Kerry)