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It’s just over a week since Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost was unveiled on the balcony in St Peter’s Square. His gentle smile and unassuming manner have lifted the mood in Rome after the sadness surrounding the death of Pope Francis. Tomorrow morning the 267th successor to St Peter, will officially begin his ministry as Pope Leo XIV. The new Pontiff faces a huge challenge leading the world’s 1.4bn Catholics into the future.

Two symbols and two saints will be the focus of an elaborate service at the Vatican tomorrow. Pope Leo will first be presented with a pallium, a strip of lambswool to wear over his shoulders, representing his pastoral role as shepherd of his flock.

But perhaps most intriguing is the Fisherman’s Ring. Following Pope Francis’s death, his papal ring was ceremonially destroyed—a symbolic gesture marking the close of his papacy. Tomorrow, during the inauguration, a newly cast gold signet ring, crafted especially for Pope Leo, will be placed on his finger. Traditionally, the ring bears an image of St. Peter the fisherman, Jesus’ foremost disciple and one of the key figures in the foundation of the Early Church.

The pallium and ring, simple symbols of pastoral care and mission, will remind the new Pope and the faithful of the huge task facing the whole church in uncertain times.

Two particular saints, it would seem, will serve as clear inspirations to Pope Leo. St. Peter embodies honesty and vulnerability and bravery throughout the New Testament. He does his best- yet often falls short—nearly sinking as he tries to walk on water before denying Jesus in a moment of fear. Yet it was precisely through the strength he revealed in his vulnerability that Jesus named him Peter—Petros in Greek—the rock upon which the Church would be built.

But there is another saint who will no doubt shape Pope Leo’s ministry. While Francis was a Jesuit—renowned for his compassion towards the marginalized and the poor—Leo comes from the Augustinian tradition, a perhaps lesser-known religious order that follows the teachings of the 4th-century bishop and theologian, St. Augustine of Hippo. Central to their charism is a call to humility: to serve the community, to seek truth through the gift of grace.

Indeed, there’s a famous quote often attributed to St Augustine that’s fitting for these troubled times. He’s believed to have said that Hope has two beautiful daughters: anger at the way things are, and courage to ensure they don’t stay that way.

Words that certainly resonate as prayers are offered for Pope Leo XIV, the newest successor of St. Peter.

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