VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis put his humility on display
during his first day as pontiff Thursday, stopping by his hotel to pick
up his luggage and pay the bill himself in a decidedly different style
for the papacy usually ensconced inside the frescoed halls of the
Vatican.
The break from the tradition-minded
previous pontificate was evident even in Francis' wardrobe choices: He
kept the simple pectoral cross of his days as bishop and eschewed the
red cape that Benedict XVI wore when he was presented to the world for
the first time in 2005 - choosing instead the simple white cassock of
the papacy.
The former archbishop of Buenos
Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, began his first day as pope making an
early morning visit in a simple Vatican car to a Roman basilica
dedicated to the Virgin Mary and prayed before an icon of the Madonna.
He
had told a crowd of some 100,000 people packed in rain-soaked St.
Peter's Square just after his election that he intended to pray to the
Madonna "that she may watch over all of Rome."
He
also told cardinals he would call on retired Pope Benedict XVI, but the
Vatican said the visit wouldn't take place for a few days.
The
main item on Francis' agenda Thursday was an inaugural afternoon Mass
in the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals on Wednesday elected him leader
of the 1.2 billion-strong church in an unusually quick conclave.
Francis
might be expected to outline some of his priorities as pope in the
homily. It was expected to be delivered in Italian, again another break
from the traditional-minded Benedict whose first homily as pope was in
Latin.
Francis, the first Jesuit pope and
first non-European since the Middle Ages, decided to call himself
Francis after St. Francis of Assisi, the humble friar who dedicated his
life to helping the poor.
The new pope, known
for his work with the poor in Buenos Aires' slums, immediately charmed
the crowd in St. Peter's, which roared when his name was announced and
roared again when he emerged on the loggia of the basilica with a simple
and familiar: "Brothers and sisters, good evening."
Waving
shyly, he said the cardinals' job was to find a bishop of Rome. "It
seems as if my brother cardinals went to find him from the end of the
earth, but here we are. Thank you for the welcome."
The
76-year-old Bergoglio, said to have finished second when Pope Benedict
XVI was elected in 2005, was chosen on just the fifth ballot to replace
the first pontiff to resign in 600 years.
Francis
urged the crowd to pray for Benedict and immediately after his election
spoke by phone with the retired pope, who has been living at the papal
retreat in Castel Gandolfo south of Rome. A visit to Benedict would be
significant because Benedict's resignation has raised concerns about
potential power conflicts emerging from the peculiar situation of having
a reigning pope and a retired one.
Benedict's
longtime aide, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, accompanied Francis to the
visit Thursday morning at St. Mary Major, the ANSA news agency reported.
In addition to being Benedict's secretary, Gaenswein is also the
prefect of the papal household and will be arranging the new pope's
schedule.
After the visit, Francis also
stopped by a Vatican-owned residence in downtown Rome to pick up the
luggage that he left behind before moving into the Vatican hotel for the
conclave.
He paid the bill "to give a good example," according to the Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi.
It was a remarkable show of simplicity and humility for a man who could easily have dispatched someone to do the job for him.
He
displayed that same sense immediately after his election, shunning the
special sedan that was to transport him to the hotel so he could ride on
the bus with other cardinals, and refusing even an elevated platform
from which he would greet them, according to U.S. Cardinal Timothy
Dolan.
"He met with us on our own level," Dolan said.
Later, during dinner, the new pope addressed a few words to the cardinals:
"'May God forgive you for what you have done,'" Francis told them, Lombardi said.
Like
many Latin American Catholics, Francis has a particular devotion to the
Virgin Mary, and his visit to the basilica was a reflection of that. He
prayed before a Byzantine icon of Mary and the infant Jesus, the
Protectress of the Roman People.
"He had a
great devotion to this icon of Mary and every time he comes from
Argentina he visits this basilica," said one of the priests at the
basilica, the Rev. Elio Montenero. "We were surprised today because did
not announce his visit."
He then also went
into the main altar area of the basilica and prayed before relics of the
manger in Bethlehem where Jesus is said to have been born - an
important pilgrimage spot for Jesuits
Francis'
election elated Latin America, home to 40 percent of the world's
Catholics which has nevertheless long been underrepresented in the
church leadership. On Wednesday, drivers honked their horns in the
streets of Buenos Aires and television announcers screamed with elation
at the news.
Cardinal Thomas Collins, the
archbishop of Toronto, said the cardinals clearly chose Francis because
he was simply "the best person to lead the church."
"I
can't speak for all the cardinals but I think you see what a wonderful
pope he is," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
"He's just a very loving, wonderful guy. We just came to appreciate the
tremendous gifts he has. He's much beloved in his diocese in Argentina.
He has a great pastoral history of serving people."
The
new pontiff brings a common touch. The son of middle-class Italian
immigrants, he denied himself the luxuries that previous cardinals in
Buenos Aires enjoyed. He lived in a simple apartment, often rode the bus
to work, cooked his own meals and regularly visited slums that ring
Argentina's capital.
"If he brings that same
desire for a simple lifestyle to the papal court, I think they are all
going to be in shock," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, author of "Inside the
Vatican," a must-read book on the Vatican bureaucracy. "This may not be
a man who wants to wear silk and furs."
Francis considers social outreach, rather than doctrinal battles, to be the essential business of the church.
"As
a champion of the poor and the most vulnerable among us, he carries
forth the message of love and compassion that has inspired the world for
more than 2,000 years - that in each other, we see the face of God,"
U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement.
As
the 266th pope, Francis inherits a Catholic church in turmoil, beset by
the clerical sex abuse scandal, internal divisions and dwindling
numbers in parts of the world where Christianity had been strong for
centuries.
While Latin America is still very
Catholic, it has faced competition from aggressive evangelical churches
that have chipped away at strongholds like Brazil, where the number of
Catholics has dropped from 74 percent of the population in 2000 to 65
percent today. Like Europe, secularism has also taken hold: more and
more people simply no longer identify themselves with any organized
religion.
Francis is sure to bring the church
closer to the poverty-wracked region, while also introducing the world
to a very different type of pope. Reversing the typical order of
blessings, he asked the crowd to bow their heads.
"I want you to bless me," Francis said.
No comments:
Post a Comment