Thousands pack St. Peter's Square for Pope Francis' inauguration

 

 Pope Francis received the ring and pallium symbolising his new papal powers at a grand ceremony in St Peter’s Square on Tuesday in front of world leaders and tens of thousands of pilgrims.

The pallium is a strip of lambswool that represents the pope’s role as a shepherd and the Fisherman’s Ring is named in honour of the first pope St Peter, a fisherman by trade.
The Pope swept into St Peter’s Square on Tuesday to greet throngs of pilgrims before a sumptuous ceremony in which Latin America’s first pontiff will receive the formal symbols of papal power.

Wearing his papal whites and standing in middle of an open-topped vehicle, the pope waved, smiled and gave the thumbs-up to the ecstatic crowds in the sun-drenched square.

Italian cardinal Angelo Sodano (R) puts the Fisherman’s Ring, made of gold-plated silver, on a finger of Pope Francis during his grandiose inauguration mass on March 19, 2013 at the Vatican. Pope Francis swept into St Peter’s Square on Tuesday to greet throngs of pilgrims before a sumptuous ceremony in which Latin America’s first pontiff will receive the formal symbols of papal power. 

The crowds had begun gathering from the early morning for a ceremony laden with centuries-old rituals and lavish imagery, which will begin with a first-time tour of the famous Vatican plaza by the Argentine pope.
“With Pope Francis, the Church will be closer to the people and to the modern world,” said Rodrigo Grajales, a 31-year-old Colombian priest in the crowd, where people waved flags from around the world and banners hailing the pope.

 
The former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, has already won hearts in Rome with a disarmingly informal style which will contrast with Tuesday’s pomp and ceremony.
Bergoglio was the surprise choice at a conclave of cardinals to find a successor to 85-year-old Benedict XVI, who last month brought a sudden end to a papacy that had often been overshadowed by scandal, saying he was too old to carry on.
He was the first pope to resign since the Middle Ages.

The jovial Francis has said he chose his papal name in honour of the mediaeval Italian saint St Francis of Assisi and has called for a “poor Church for the poor”, warning the world’s cardinals against pursuing worldly glories.