Pope Leo XIV's official photo with Latin signature and reliquary cross

Photo: EFE

14:44 | Vatican City, May. 16.

Pope Leo XIV appears wearing his reliquary cross with the Augustinian saints, along with his name and signature in Latin, in the official photo distributed by the Vatican on Friday.

In the image that will be distributed to the faithful on special occasions or featured on Vatican websites, Robert Francis Prevost appears with a slight smile, wearing the golden pectoral cross he wore when he presented himself to the world on May 8.

The signature that has been chosen, as with other popes, is the name in Latin 'Leo' followed by the abbreviation 'pp' (Pontifex Pontificum) before the numeral XIV.

The cross is a reliquary with bone fragments of saints linked to the Augustinian Order, to which he belongs. It was chosen as a gift by the Order's Postulator General Josef Sciberras for his brother Robert Prevost on the day of his creation as cardinal, September 30, 2023.

"On the eve of the Conclave, last Tuesday, I sent him a message recommending that he wear the cross we had given him, so that he would have the protection of Saints Augustine and Monica," Sciberras explained to Vatican media.

At the center there is a bone fragment of Saint Augustine; at the top, one of Saint Monica, the saint's mother, to whom the new pope is very devoted —as was Francis. For the Augustinian Order, the figure of Monica is inseparable from the experience of her son's conversion and consecration.

On the left arm of the cross is the relic of Blessed Anselmo Polanco, Bishop of Teruel, "martyr of the religious persecution in Spain (1936–1939)," who was executed by a firing squad.

While on the right arm is the relic of Giuseppe Bartolomeo Menochio, Bishop of Porfirio and Prefect of the Apostolic Sacristy.

Papal sacristan since 1800, he served the Church with courage during the Napoleonic invasion. In 1991, John Paul II recognized his 'heroic virtues,' marking the first step in the beatification process.

(END) EFE/CFS/JMP/MVB

Published: 5/16/2025

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Pope Leo XIV's official photo with Latin signature and reliquary cross

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