Tens of thousands turn St Peter's Square into sea of flags and banners for new pontiff's inauguration mass
When the announcement of "Habemus Papam" came down from the loggia last Wednesday Mario Ruzzante, an Italian pensioner, had a nasty shock. "The cardinal said 'Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum … Ber-' and we thought he would say 'Berlusconi'!" laughed Ruzzante. He was joking, but it was a way of admitting that, at that point, he hadn't known much about the man who until that night had been the Argentinian cardinal Jorge Bergoglio.
On Tuesday, however, as Ruzzante and his friends took their place among the tens of thousands of pilgrims descending on Vatican City for his inauguration mass, all doubts had been cast aside. "We are here for our great pope who has opened our hearts. Who's like us – simple," said Ana Maria Corra, who had come more than 300 miles on a bus with Ruzzante and a group of Catholics from north-east Italy.
"He's a great pope already," she added. "Immediately."
In a sun-bathed St Peter's square, in front of a sea of flags, banners and the occasional bugle, the first Latin American and Jesuit pope celebrated his first mass as the Bishop of Rome. Delighting the crowds with a tour of the piazza in his white open-air jeep, he waved, kissed babies and got out at one point to bless a disabled man.
He later shook hands with a variety of visiting world leaders, including Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, who – not for the first time – evaded an EU travel ban by listing his destination as the Vatican. In attendance were US vice-president Joe Biden, German chancellor Angela Merkel and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner –the Argentinian president who on Monday urged Pope Francis to intervene in a "dialogue" with Britain over the Falkland Islands.
The British delegation was low-key. The pope was met by the Duke of Gloucester, who is 21st in line to the throne. The archbishop of York led the Anglican church delegation. For the first time since the split between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches almost 1,000 years ago, the ecumenical patriarch, Bartholomew, was also present. In a nod to eastern traditions, the gospel was read in Greek.
Sitting on a raised throne Francis received the symbols of the papacy: his fisherman's ring – in gold-plated silver rather than solid gold – and the lamb's wool pallium, which was draped over his shoulders. In a homily delivered entirely in Italian, the 76-year-old pontiff once again invoked Francis of Assisi, urging pilgrims and rulers alike to protect "each of God's creatures" and to respect the environment.
As for himself, he said, his primary duty was to serve. "[The pope] must open his arms to protect all of God's people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the smallest, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison," he said, growing particularly animated. Taking care of one's fellow man, he said, could "open up a horizon of hope".
The message – applauded in places by the amassed dignitaries and pilgrims – was heard loud and clear in the crowd.
"It was very powerful," said Julio Resende, 32, from Brazil. "He invited us to take care of humanity, of each other, especially the poor, the old, those in need."
For many who had come from far and wide to see him, the new pontiff has already won hearts through small gestures that have – they believe – spoken volumes about his intention for a different style of pontificate. "I love him. He connects with people really easily," said Charlie-May Hallam-Flaherty, 19, one of a group of students from St Mary's University College in Twickenham. "I'm just in awe of him."
Alice Murgia, 25, who had come with two friends all the way from Sardinia, agreed. "For us, we are young, and he is the first pope who feels close to us," she said, praising the way Francis had taken the minibus with the cardinals the night of his election and had wished them a "good evening" from the balcony of St Peter's that night. Now, said her friend Francesca Erdas, 23, their hope was "above all" that he could "bring a bit of clarity to what has been going on in the Vatican."
Others' hopes were more pragmatic – and political. Ramirez Marcos, originally from the Chaco province in north-eastern Argentina, stood in St Peter's square with a banner in Spanish that translated as: "The wound is open." Determined to see the Falkland Islands transferred to Argentinian control, he said he had had friends and family who fought in the war with Britain in 1982. Now, he said, he hoped Francis would acquiesce to Kirchner's words request for an intervention with Britain. Another Argentinian in the crowd, Susana Montaldo, said she hoped that the pope would, if not tackle the issue of Las Malvinas directly, at least give a broader message about "the existence of colonies".
She had spent around $2,000 on the airfare to come to Rome for the inauguration, she said. But it was worth every penny. "He's a hope for the Catholic church and for the whole world," she said, alluding to his work with the poor. "I come from the most unequal continent of the world, so for us it's important to work for … more justice for all. I think he has the charisma to have a good influence, to encourage people."
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