By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press
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 of papacy than his tradition-minded predecessor, who
tended to stay ensconced in the frescoed halls of the Vatican.
The break from Benedict XVI's 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 wore
when he was presented to the world for the first time in 2005 -
choosing instead the simple white cassock of the papacy.
The difference in style was a sign of Francis'
belief that the Catholic Church needs to be at one with the people it
serves and not imposing its message on a society that often doesn't want
to hear it, Francis' authorized biographer, Sergio Rubin, said in an
interview Thursday with The Associated Press.
"It seems to me for now what is certain is it's a
great change of style, which for us isn't a small thing," Rubin said,
recalling how the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio would celebrate Masses
with ex-prostitutes in Buenos Aires.
"He believes the church has to go to the streets,"
he said, "to express this closeness of the church and this accompaniment
with the people who suffer."
Francis 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 elected
him leader of the 1.2 billion-strong church in an unusually quick
conclave.
Francis is expected to outline some of his
priorities as pope in the homily. The Vatican said it would likely be
delivered in Italian, 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."
By Thursday morning, members of his flock were
similarly charmed when Francis stopped by the Vatican-owned residence
where he routinely stays during visits to Rome and where he stayed
before the start of the conclave to pick up his luggage, pay the bill
and greet staff.
"He wanted to come here because he wanted to thank
the personnel, people who work in this house," said The Rev. Pawel
Rytel-Andrianek, who is staying at the residence. "He greeted them one
by one, no rush, the whole staff, one by one."
"People say that he never in these 20 years asked
for a (Vatican) car," he said. "Even when he went for the conclave with a
priest from his diocese, he just walked out to the main road, he picked
up a taxi and went to the conclave. So very simple for a future pope."
Francis displayed that same sense of simplicity and
humility 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.
"I think we're going to see a call to Gospel
simplicity," said U.S. Cardinal Donald Wuerl. "He is by all accounts a
very gentle but firm, very loving but fearless, a very pastoral and
caring person ideal for the challenges today."
During dinner, Francis, however, acknowledged the
daunting nature of those challenges in a few words addressed to the
cardinal electors: "'May God forgive you for what you have done,'"
Francis said, according to witnesses.
The Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi
acknowledged the difference in style between the two popes, attributing
it to Francis' life work as the pastor of Buenos Aires whereas Benedict
was long an academic. He said it was too early to make a "profound
evaluation" of Francis' priorities, urging instead reflection on his
first few homilies - particularly at his installation Mass on Tuesday.
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. 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.
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 he 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," an
authoritative 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 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 also inherits a Vatican bureaucracy in need
of sore reform. The leaks of papal documents last year exposed the
petty turf battles and allegations of corruption in the Holy See
administration.
One of his most important and watched appointments
will be that of his secretary of state, who effectively runs the Holy
See. Lombardi said Francis, like his predecessors, would probably
confirm all Vatican officials in their jobs for the time being, and make
changes at a later date.
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Reporter Rob Gillies in Toronto, Karl Ritter and photographer Luca Bruno in Rome contributed.
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