Anthony Albanese brought along with him a very Aussie accessory as he met Pope Leo XIV at the inauguration mass on Sunday.
The Prime Minister donned an Akubra as he joined world leaders and royalty at the Vatican in Rome for the historic event watched by millions around the world.
Mr Albanese shared footage his meeting with the new Pope on Instagram, writing: ‘Honoured to attend the inaugural Mass and meet His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, who is in the prayers of Australia’s five million Catholics today.’
Ahead of the ceremony, he told reporters in Rome: ‘It will be a special day for the five million Australians of Catholic faith … and it is a great honour for me to be here representing Australia
‘It is a great honour for me to be here representing Australia.’
Since arriving in Rome, Mr Albanese has met with Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher and Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli at Domus Australia.
The mass, attended by tens of thousands of people in St Peter’s Square, began at 10am local time (6pm on Sunday AEST).
Church leaders will then present the Pope with the pallium, a vestment that signifies his assumption of the papacy, and a fisherman’s ring, the symbol of the first apostles being ‘fishers of men’ in the gospels.
Anthony Albanese met with Pope Leo XIV at the inauguration mass at the Vatican in Rome (pictured)
Mr Albanese said the Pope would be invited to Australia for the International Eucharist Conference in 2028.
Australia’s ambassador to the Holy See Keith Pitt said one of his jobs would be to lobby hard to get the Pope to visit Australia in 2028 for the congress.
‘It’s been a long time since a Pope has been in Australia,’ Mr Pitt told Sky News.
Mr Pitt said the Pope, who hailed from America but spent much of his life in Peru, was ‘a student of the world’.
‘He’s been to Australia a number of times … and I was reminded again this morning by an archbishop that apparently he loves Tim Tams,’ he said.
Mr Albanese, who is also Catholic, said 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 recently re-elected prime minister will also advance Australia’s domestic and foreign policy agenda as part of his whirlwind two-and-a-half-day visit to Rome.
Mr Albanese will meet with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen, with the war in Ukraine and trade expected to top 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 Mr Albanese will attempt to revive free trade negotiations with the EU, which broke down in 2023.
Other notable attendees include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Britain’s Prince William and US Vice President JD Vance, who will represent the US on behalf of Mr Trump.
Mr Albanese said he also hoped to schedule meetings with Vice President Vance and President Zelenskiy.
