"[1] The music was composed in 1869 by Charles Gounod, for the celebration on 11 April 1869 of Pope Pius IX's golden jubilee of priestly ordination.

[1][2] It was first performed that day at four o'clock in the afternoon with seven pontifical bands and a chorus of over one thousand soldiers.

Gounod's "Marche Pontificale" was first performed in this new role during a ceremony on Christmas Eve of 1949, one day before the opening of the Holy Year 1950.

[1] At that time, Antonio Allegra (1905–1969), who was then one of the organists of St. Peter's Basilica, wrote Italian lyrics[4] for Gounod's music.

[4] In 1991, Raffaello Lavagna of Savona (1918–2015) wrote Latin lyrics for a four-voice choir, on an arrangement by Alberico Vitalini.

A Te veniamo, Angelico Pastore, In Te vediamo il mite Redentore, Erede Santo di vera e santa Fede; Conforto e vanto a chi combatte e crede,

Pontifex, Tu magister es tuos confirmans fratres; Pontifex, Tu qui Servus servorum Dei, hominumque piscator, pastor es gregis, ligans caelum et terram.

Tenors, basses: Pontiff, You are the vicar of Christ on earth, a rock amidst the waves, You are a beacon in the darkness; You are the defender of peace, You are the guardian of unity, watchful defender of liberty; in You is the authority.

Pontifex fundamentum ac robur nostrum, Hominumque piscator pastor es gregis ligans terram et coelum.