In his first Mass as pope, Francis showed how different he would be
as a pastor, giving an off-the-cuff homily about the need to walk with
God, build up his Church, and confess — at one point referring to
children building sandcastles on the beach.The difference in style was a sign of Francis’s belief that the Catholic Church needs to be at one with the people it serves and not impose its message on a society that often doesn’t want to hear it, according to Francis’s authorised biographer, Sergio Rubin.
“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,” said Rubin, recalling how the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio would celebrate Masses with homeless people and prostitutes in Buenos Aires. “He believes the Church has to go to the streets to express this closeness of the Church and this accompaniment with those who are suffering.”
Francis began his first day as pontiff 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 about 100,000 people packed in rain-soaked St. Peter’s Square 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 Benedict, the pope emeritus, but the Vatican said the visit would not take place for a few days.
The main item on the Pope’s agenda was his inaugural afternoon Mass in the Sistine Chapel.
At the start of the Mass, Francis exchanged words with Monsignor Guido Marini, the Vatican’s master of liturgical ceremonies who under Benedict ushered in a far more traditional style of liturgy, heavy on Gregorian chant, Latin, and the silk-brocaded vestments of the pre-Vatican II Church.
Vatican officials confirmed reports that Marini was somewhat put off by Francis’s refusal on Wednesday to wear the formal papal red cape when he emerged on the loggia overlooking St Peter’s Square to be introduced to the crowd.
Benedict was known to favour many of the trappings of the papacy, including the elaborate vestments and ceremonial gear used by popes past.
Traditionalists rejoiced with Benedict’s return to these elements of the pre-Vatican II Church, arguing it was the true Church and not the one spoiled by the council’s reforms.
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 yesterday 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.
“He wanted to come here because he wanted to thank the personnel, people who work in this house,” said Rev Pawel Rytel-Andrianek, who is staying at the residence. “He greeted them one by one, no rush, the whole staff, one by one.”
He then paid the bill.
“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 US Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
“He met with us on our own level,” said Dolan.
“I think we’re going to see a call to Gospel simplicity,” said US 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.”
The Vatican spokesman, Rev Federico Lombardi, said it was too early to make a “profound evaluation” of Francis’s priorities, urging instead reflection on his first few homilies — particularly at his installation Mass on Tuesday.