Rome: 18 May 2025. Pope Leo XIV seeks to build bridges to peace. Bridges symbolize connection and extend inclusion. Is our world ready?
Pope Leo XIV, elected 8 May and inaugurated 18 May 2025, is now officially head of the Catholic Church, sovereign of Vatican City State, and holder of the title Pontiff. But what does the title Pontiff mean?
Short for Pontifex Maximus, a title held by the early Roman Emperors, the term means “Bridge Builder.” In those days, only the head of state could authorize a bridge. When the Pope replaced the Emperor as head of Vatican State in 590ce, the Pontiff’s title passed to the Pope Gregory I, progenitor of Gregorian Chant and proponent of graphic representation of knowledge, especially for those not able to discern the written word, perhaps foretelling graphic novels of today. But it was Pope Sixtus IV, ascending to the papal throne in 1471, who commissioned the Sistine Chapel, created the Vatican Archives, and built the bridge that now bears his name: Ponte Sisto.
Rome has always been a place of building, using the latest technology to achieve infrastructure like the Roman Aqueducts, Roman Roads, or Bridges of the Tiber River. The oldest bridge, Ponte Fabricio, dates to 62 bce and was described by Livy as the replacement of an even older wooden bridge erected in 192bce. Most recent is the Ponte della Musica or Music Bridge, dedicated to the composer Armando Trovajoli, that opened in 2011 to welcome public transport, cyclists, and pedestrians. It was designed by Buro Happold Studio of London, site of another famous bridge originally built with wood.
Rome, or London, may not need more bridges, but the world does. Some physical bridges are in need of repair. In the US alone, more than one-third of all existing bridges are in need of repair according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA): that’s 222,000 bridges. Globally, there are over 600,000 bridges: many are in need of mending. Bridges between peoples, nations, and cultures may also need mending.
While Pope Leo XIV might not be building or mending physical bridges, the new pontiff appears to be focused on connection as a bridge to peace. After his inauguration on 18 May 2025, Leo met with Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, offering the Vatican as a place for Russia-Ukraine peace talks. The pontiff’s first words, upon election: “Peace be with you. You help us to build bridges with dialogue and encounter so we can all be one people always in peace.”
Each one of us is a bridge: to family members, between neighbors, among friends, extending the reach of community, and reaching out to those we may view as different. What actions, or thoughts, can you offer to build bridges?
ARTBA. “Bridge Report: 2023.” https://artbabridgererport.org/reports/2023-ARTBA-Bridge-Report.pdf
Bigg, Matthew Mpoke. “Zelensky Meets With Pope Leo After Inaugural Mass.” 18 May 2025. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/18/world/europe/zelensky-pope-mass-vance-rubio.html
Bura Happold Studio and Julia Karasinska. “Bridges as instigators for urban development.” 13 September 2022. https://www.burohappold.com/news/bridges-as-instigators-for-urban-development/
Pope Leo XIV. “Urbi et Orbi” 8 May 2025. Vatican News. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-05/pope-leo-xvi-peace-be-with-you-first-words.html
Zadorozhnyy, Tim. “Zelensky meets Pope Leo XIV at Vatican.” 18 May 2025. Kyiv Independent. https://kyivindependent.com/breaking-zelensky-meets-pope-leo-xiv-at-vatican/
Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U
