Francis begins papacy with humility

Pope Francis put his humility on display during his first day as pontiff on 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.Pope Francis received a flood of goodwill messages from around the world on Thursday with non-Catholics hoping his papacy will usher in better ties with the Vatican.Meanwhile, Latin America’s Roman Catholics rejoiced that the new Pope Francis is one of their own, while elsewhere the world has hailed him as a humble champion of the poor and wished him the strength to lead the Church out of crisis.Commentators said Francis had a reputation for being as conservative as his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, but Latin American Catholics celebrated the fact that the cardinals had, in his words, gone “to the end of the world” to find him.Separately, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC), which represents 57 countries, expressed hope for better relations between Muslim states and the Vatican under newly elected Pope Francis.OIC secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in a letter of congratulations to the pope, said he hoped “the relationship between Islam and Christianity will regain its cordiality and sincere friendship” under the new head of the Roman Catholic Church.Other leaders and Catholics around the world, while hailing the new pope, urged Francis to work for religious reconciliation and peace.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 Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi acknowledged the difference in style, 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 former 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 on 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. Lombardi 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. source : Gulftoday