VATICAN CITY - At the formal start of his papacy, Pope Francis offered a passionate pledge Tuesday to serve “the poorest, the weakest, the least important,” striking the same tones of humility as have marked the days since he was elected last week.
On a raised and canopied throne on a purple platform looking out from St. Peter’s Basilica to the huge piazza in front of it, the pope enjoined those in temporal power to protect the world and “not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world.”
“Today, too, amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others,” he added to frequent applause from some among the tens of thousands people cramming the square and the broad avenue leading to it from the River Tiber. The Vatican estimated the number at 150,000 to 200,000.
He quoted from scriptural texts to say that as Bishop of Rome, he was endowed with “a certain power.”
But he went on: “Let us never forget that authentic power is service and that the pope, too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross.”
“He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked St. Joseph and, like him, he 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 least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love:the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison.”
The inauguration coincided with St. Joseph’s day commemorating Joseph, the biblical husband of Mary.
Francis, 76, was elected last Wednesday as the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, to replace Benedict XVI, 85, the first pope in 600 years to resign, citing poor health and failing strength. Francis is the first Jesuit pope and the first pope from Latin America.
But the main clue to his likely approach to a troubled office beset by scandals over governance, sexual abuse and financial mismanagement lay in his decision to take his papal name from St. Francis of Assisi, who embraced the poor. Before last Wednesday he was Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires.
The installation Mass on Tuesday, before crowds of well-wishers, pilgrims and sightseers under bright blue skies, drew heads of state from his native Argentina to Zimbabwe.
For most of those assembled in St. Peter’s Square, the first glimpse of Francis on Tuesday came when he arrived among them below the soaring facade of St. Peter’s, standing in the rear of a white open-air vehicle rather than a covered version of the traditional pope mobile protected by bulletproof glass.
He wore simple white robes, halted to kiss a baby in the crowd and walked among the faithful. At one point, he gave supporters a thumbs up sign, drawing laughter.He stopped to kiss a disabled man on the forehead and people in the square said he seemed informal and relaxed. Many cried “Viva il Papa” - “long live the pope.”
Security officers flanked his vehicle and a strong contingent of Italian police mingled with the crowd around Francis, who is the son of Italian immigrants.
Earlier, as bells pealed over the square, Francis, a doctrinal traditionalist, entered St. Peter’s basilica to prepare for the two-hour installation Mass in the square outside, praying at the underground tomb of St. Peter flanked by prelates of the Eastern churches and then walking along the vast marble interior to appear again before the throngs waiting for the service.
The cardinals of his church sat in rows, wearing robes in gold and pale yellow.
As the Mass began, Francis received two symbolic emblems of his office as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics - the fisherman’s ring, which recalls how St. Peter fished for food and later for souls, and the pallium, a white woolen vestment that symbolizes the role of the pope as a good shepherd.
The ring was made from gold-plated silver by an Italian jeweler, Enrico Manfrini.
Argentines holding vigil in their capital’s central Plaza de Mayo before Tuesday’s papal installation ceremony cheered in joy when Francis called at 3:30 a.m. local time urging them to cast aside their conflicts and take care of one another.
“My dear children, I know you’re in the plaza,” he said during the call, which he made just an hour before his ceremony began in St. Peter’s Square.
His words were routed to loudspeakers and transmitted live by television and radio across Argentina.
“I know that you’re praying and making prayers. I need them very much,” he added.
Information for this article was contributed by Gaia Pianigiani of The New York Times and by Damian Pachter and Jorge Sainz of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 03/20/2013