Inauguration of the Pontificate of Pope Francis

The inaugural Holy Mass of the new pontiff – Pope Francis- was celebrated in St. Peter’s Square on Tuesday 19th March before a crowd of nearly two million people. He is the first Jesuit, the first Latin American and also the first Pope Francis, a name he took after St. Francis of Assisi, who died in 1226 after a life of poverty and simplicity.

The new Pope arrived in the ‘popemobile’ about 45 minutes before the Holy Mass began, and drove slowly through the crowd, greeting the public. The formal ceremony began with a procession into St. Peter’s basilica, where the Pope venerated the tomb of St. Peter. Then he was vested with the pallium, the symbol of his authority, placed over his shoulders by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the senior Cardinal-Deacon. Next he received the Fisherman’s Ring, placed on his finger by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals. In the final ritual confirming his new authority, he received acts of obedience from six cardinals who had been selected to represent the entire College of Cardinals. The Gospel was read in Greek. Pope Francis delivered his homily in Italian.

The Pope began his homily by noting how appropriate it was to begin his papal ministry on the feast of St. Joseph, the patron of the universal Church. Then he observed that St. Joseph’s mission in life was to protect Jesus and Mary, and offered that same mission as a model for everyone. The Pope said,” Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation”. His Holiness added, “I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be protectors of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment”.

The new Pope acknowledged that he now has a special responsibility as the 265th successor to St. Peter. But he quickly added that Jesus told St. Peter to “feed my lambs, feed my sheep.” Pope Francis remarked, “Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross.”
The Pope concluded his homily by saying that he saw his role as very similar to that of St. Joseph: “To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves.”

The spiritual head of the world’s Orthodox Christians attended Pope Francis’ inaugural Holy Mass on Tuesday in Vatican. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, travelled to Rome on Monday to take part in Pope Francis’ installation. He is the first ecumenical patriarch to take part since the Great Schism between their two churches in 1054. Pope Benedict XVI had made uniting all Christians and healing the split a priority of his pontificate. The decision to take part in the Holy mass was “the fruit” of the growing dialogue between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.