Category: Religion

{{Pope Francis celebrated his first Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, encouraging people to be humble and young at heart, as tens of thousands joyfully waved olive branches and palm fronds.}}

The square overflowed with some 250,000 pilgrims, tourists and Romans eager to join the new pope at the start of solemn Holy Week ceremonies, which lead up to Easter, Christianity’s most important day.

Keeping with his spontaneous style, the first pope from Latin America broke away several times from the text of his prepared homily to encourage the faithful to lead simple lives.

Palm Sunday recalls Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem but its Gospel also recounts how he was betrayed by one of his apostles and ultimately sentenced to death on a cross.

Recalling the triumphant welcome into Jerusalem, Francis said Jesus “awakened so many hopes in the heart, above all among humble, simple, poor, forgotten people, those who don’t matter in the eyes of the world.”

Francis then told an off-the-cuff story from his childhood in Argentina.

“My grandmother used to say, ‘children, burial shrouds don’t have’ pockets’” the pope said, in a variation of “you can’t take it with you.”
Since his election on March 13, Francis has put the downtrodden and poor at the center of his mission as pope, keeping with the priorities of his Jesuit tradition.

His name – the first time a pope has called himself ‘Francis’ – is inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, who renounced a life of high-living for austere poverty and simplicity to preach Jesus’ message to the poor.

Francis wore bright red robes over a white cassock as he presided over the Mass at an altar sheltered by a white canopy on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Agencies

{{Orthodox activists have stormed Moscow’s Darwin Museum, tossing leaflets with creationist slogans into the lobby and planting a “God Created the World!” flag on the roof.}}

The event, organized by the God’s Will movement, was held on Sunday to mark the passing of 7,522 years since the creation of the world.

According to the group’s official website, the movement seeks “to fulfill the commandments of Christ through civil activism.”

One participant, Dmitry Tsorionov, said of the event on Twitter: “Checkmate, atheists! 7,522 summers from the creation of the world, creationists have seized the Darwin Museum!”

In a video posted on YouTube, activists can be seen in large groups singing hymns, wearing T-shirts denouncing the theory of evolution and proclaiming creationism, and throwing papers with religious slogans into the lobby — one of which read, “God created cats.”

Witnesses later reported that the activists picked up all the leaflets after themselves and even snatched them back from museum workers who had gathered them.

None of the activists were detained. A police spokesman on Monday declined to comment.

This is not the first such occupation-style protest by Orthodox activists. They have made a name for themselves in recent months by raiding various venues that they consider blasphemous.

Last August, the director of Moscow’s Museum of Erotic Art reported that “Orthodox militants” barged into the museum holding a brick and a Bible.

Just days before that, an event in support of Pussy Riot at Teatr.doc was disrupted by Orthodox activists who stormed in with a television crew filming as they denounced the theater event.

{Moscow Times}

{{Hundreds of thousands of people are attending Pope Francis’s inauguration mass in St Peter’s Square.}}

On Monday, World leaders flew in for the inauguration where Latin America’s first pontiff will receive the formal symbols of papal power.

The mass laden with rituals and spectacular imagery begins with a tour of the famous Vatican plaza by the Argentine pope after his election last week.

Pope Francis toured a crammed St. Peter’s Square in an open white jeep on Tuesday to greet a huge crowd gathered for a Mass to inaugurate his papacy, which has already fanned hope for a renewal of the scandal-plagued Roman Catholic Church.

In another sign of the informality that is already a mark of his papacy, Francis abandoned the bullet-proof popemobile frequently used by his more formal predecessor Benedict, to tour the sprawling square in bright sunshine.

Crowds had been pouring into the square and surrounding streets since before dawn.

Francis, who was elected by a secret conclave of cardinals last Wednesday, stopped frequently to greet the crowd and kiss babies held up to him. He got out of the vehicle at one point to bless a disabled man.

The Mass, which was due to start at 9:30 a.m. (0830 GMT) will formally install Francis as the new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

{{Pope Francis offered intimate insights Saturday into the moments after his election, telling journalists that he was immediately inspired to take the name of St. Francis of Assisi because of his work for peace and the poor — and that he himself would like to see “a poor church and a church for the poor.”}}

“Let me tell you a story,” Francis said in a break from his prepared text during a special gathering for thousands of journalists, media workers and guests in the Vatican’s auditorium.

Francis then described how he was comforted by his friend, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, as it appeared the voting was going his way and it seemed “a bit dangerous” that he would reach the two-thirds necessary to be elected.

When the threshold was reached, applause erupted in the frescoed Sistine Chapel.

“He (Hummes) hugged me. He kissed me. He said don’t forget about the poor,” Francis recalled. “And that’s how in my heart came the name Francis of Assisi,” who devoted his life to the poor, missionary outreach and caring for God’s creation.

He said some have wondered whether his name was a reference to other Francis figures, including St. Frances de Sales or even the co-founder of the pope’s Jesuit order, Francis Xavier.

But he said he was inspired immediately after the election when he thought about wars.

St. Francis of Assisi, the pope said, was “the man of the poor. The man of peace. The man who loved and cared for creation — and in this moment we don’t have such a great relationship with creation. The man who gives us this spirit of peace, the poor man.”

“Oh how I would like a poor church and a church for the poor,” Francis said, sighing.

He then joked that some other cardinals suggested other names: Hadrian VI, after a great church reformer — a reference to the need for the pope to clean up the Vatican’s messy bureaucracy. Someone else suggested Clement XV, to get even with Clement XIV, who suppressed the Jesuit order in 1773.

The gathering in the Vatican begins a busy week for the pontiff that includes his installation Mass on Tuesday.

Among the talks, the Vatican said Saturday, will be a session with the president of Francis’ homeland Argentina on Monday. The pope has sharply criticized Christina Fernandez over her support for liberal measures such as gay marriage and free contraceptives.

But the most closely watched appointment will be Francis’ journey next Saturday to the hills south of Rome at the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo for lunch with Benedict XVI, a historic encounter that brings together the new pope and the first pope to resign in six centuries, which set in motion the stunning papal transition.

The Saturday meeting between the two will be private, but every comment and gesture on the sidelines will be scrutinized for hints of how the unprecedented relationship will take shape between the emeritus pontiff and his successor.

Benedict has promised to remain outside church affairs and dedicate himself to prayer and meditation. Pope Francis, however, has shown no reluctance to invoke Benedict’s legacy and memory, in both an acknowledgment of the unusual dimensions of his papacy and also a message that he is comfortable with the situation and is now fully in charge.

World leaders and senior international envoys, including U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, are expected on Tuesday for the formal installation of Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope. It offers the new pope his first opportunities to flex his diplomatic skills as head of the Vatican City State.

{{On his first day as shepherd of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, Pope Francis picked up his luggage at a Vatican hotel, personally thanked each member of the staff and even paid his own bill. }}

Then, at his first Mass, he delivered a short, unscripted homily — in Italian, not the Latin of his predecessor — holding the cardinals who elected him responsible for keeping the church strong.

Pope for barely 12 hours, Francis brushed off years of tradition and formality Thursday with a remarkable break in style that sent a clear message that his papacy is poised to reject many of the trappings enjoyed by now-retired Benedict XVI.

That was hardly out of character for Francis. For years, as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentine pastor took the bus to work, kissed the feet of AIDS patients and prayed with former prostitutes, eschewing the luxurious residence that would have been his due as archbishop of Buenos Aires.

But now he is pope — the first from the New World and the first Jesuit — and his style both personal and liturgical is in a global spotlight.

On his first day, he couldn’t have signaled a greater contrast to Benedict, the German academic who was meek and generous in person but formal and traditional in public.

The differences played out Thursday in the Sistine Chapel as the 76-year-old Francis celebrated his first public Mass as pope.

Whereas Benedict read a three-page discourse in Latin, Francis had a far simpler message. Speaking off-the-cuff for 10 minutes in easy Italian, he said all Catholics must “build” the church and “walk” with the faith.

He urged priests to build their churches on solid foundations, warning: “What happens when children build sand castles on the beach? It all comes down.”

“If we don’t proclaim Jesus, we become a pitiful NGO, not the bride of the Lord,” he said.

“When we walk without the cross, and when we preach about Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of the Lord. We are mundane. We are bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but we are not disciples of the Lord.”

The new style was evident even in Francis’ wardrobe. Rather than wear the new golden pectoral cross he was offered after his election Wednesday, he kept the simple crucifix of his days as bishop.

He also turned down the red velvet cape that Benedict wore when he was presented to the world for the first time in 2005, choosing the simple white cassock of the papacy instead.

“It seems to me what is certain is it’s a great change of style, which for us isn’t a small thing,” Sergio Rubin, Francis’ authorized biographer, told The Associated Press.

Rubin said the new pope “believes the church has to go into the streets” and be one with the people it serves and not impose its message on a society that often doesn’t want to hear it.

For this reason, as Cardinal Bergoglio, “he built altars and tents in the squares of Buenos Aires, and held Masses with former prostitutes and homeless people in the street,” Rubin said. “He did this to express the closeness of the church to those who are suffering.”

Rubin said he expected to see more changes — even substantive ones — once Francis gets his footing.

“I think the categories of progressive and conservative are insufficient,” Rubin said. “Pope Francis is someone with a great mental openness to enter into dialogue. He is very understanding of different situations. He doesn’t like to impose.”

Francis began Thursday with an early morning trip in a simple Vatican car — not the papal sedan — to a Roman basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary, where he prayed before an icon of the Madonna.

Like many Latin American Catholics, Francis has a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary, and his visit to the St. Mary Major basilica was a reflection of that. Laying flowers on the altar, he then prayed before a Byzantine icon of Mary and the infant Jesus.

“He has a great devotion to this icon of Mary, and every time he comes from Argentina he visits this basilica,” said the Rev. Elio Montenero, who was present for the pope’s arrival. “We were surprised today because he did not announce his visit.”

Francis himself had foreshadowed the visit, telling the 100,000 people packed into 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.”

The new pope, known for his work with the poor in Buenos Aires’ slums, had charmed the crowd when he emerged on the loggia and greeted them with a simple and familiar: “Brothers and sisters, good evening.”

On Thursday, members of his flock were charmed again when Francis stopped by the Vatican-owned residence where he stayed before the conclave to pick up his luggage. But that wasn’t the only reason he made the detour.

“He wanted to thank the personnel, people who work in this house,” said the Rev. Pawel Rytel-Andrianek, a guest at the residence. “He greeted them one by one, no rush, the whole staff, one by one.”

Francis then paid his bill “to set a good example,” Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said.

“People say that he never in these 20 years asked for a (Vatican) car,” Rytel-Andrianek said. “Even when he went to the conclave with a priest from his diocese, he just walked out to the main road, picked up a taxi and went to the conclave. So very simple for a future pope.”

Francis displayed that same sense of humility immediately after his election, spurning the throne on an elevated platform that was brought out for him to receive the cardinals’ pledges of obedience, said Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.

“He met with us on our own level,” Dolan said.

Later, he traveled by bus back to the hotel along with the other cardinals, refusing the special sedan and security detail that he was offered.

Francis, said U.S. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, has signaled his adherence to a “Gospel of simplicity.”

“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,” Wuerl said.

Cardinal Thomas Collins, the archbishop of Toronto, agreed.

“He’s just a very loving, wonderful guy. We just came to appreciate the tremendous gifts he has. He’s much beloved in his diocese in Argentina. He has a great pastoral history of serving people,” Collins said in a telephone interview.

And he has a sense of humor.

During dinner after his election on Wednesday, the cardinals toasted him, Dolan said. “Then he toasted us and said, ‘May God forgive you for what you’ve done.’”

wirestory

{{The name Francis – never before chosen as a papal moniker – harkens back to the tradition and culture of his Italian ancestry as well as the country he was born and lived in, Argentina. }}

But his new name has significance, too.

Traditionally, new popes are rechristened with previously used names. Pope Benedict chose the same name as his predecessor from 1914-1922, Benedict XV, who led the church through the turbulent times of WWI.

There have been a total of 16 popes named Benedict.

The fact that Pope Francis has chosen a name that has not been used for before may signal that he wants to lead the church into a new chapter, or at least embrace a new tone.

In a notable gesture, Francis asked the multitudes assembled in St. Peter’s Square to bless him.

In Catholic tradition, St. Francis of Assisi had a mystical vision of Jesus Christ, who told him to rebuild his church.

In light of the scandals that have tarnished the Church, from its financial troubles to widespread allegations and cover-up of sex abuse, the name may carry special significance.

Jorge Bergoglio: Who is the new pope?

Pope Francis I: Cardinals chose 266th leader of the Roman Catholic Church

Francis is also known for humility and a simple lifestyle. The Italian patron saint renounced his wealth and founded the Franciscan order of friars in 1290.

The name comes as a surprise. According to data on betting odds collected by The Economist, the most likely names for the new pope to take on were Leo (42.1 percent) and Gregory (16.7 percent). Francis didn’t even make the list.

{{Cardinals returned to the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday for a second day of voting to choose a new pope after a great plume of black smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney indicated that their first vote the night before yielded no winner.}}

The schedule for Wednesday’s voting included a brief prayer followed by two rounds of morning balloting from the 115 cardinals.

If no one receives the necessary 77 votes, cardinals break for lunch and return for two more ballots in the afternoon.

The drama — with stage sets by Michelangelo and an outcome that is anyone’s guess — is playing out against the backdrop of the turmoil unleashed by Benedict XVI’s surprise resignation and the exposure of deep divisions among cardinals.

As a result, many analysts predict a long conclave — or at least longer than the four ballots it took to elect Benedict in 2005.

As they did on Tuesday night, thousands of people braved a chilly rain on Wednesday morning to watch the 6-foot- (2-meter-) high copper chimney on the chapel roof for the smoke signals telling them whether a new pope has been elected.

Nuns recited the rosary, while children splashed in puddles.

Unlike the confusion that reigned during the 2005 conclave, the smoke Tuesday night was clearly black — thanks to special smoke flares akin to those used in soccer matches or protests that were lit in the chapel ovens to make the burned ballots black.

{wirestory}

{{Roman Catholic cardinals gather under the gaze of Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment” on Tuesday to elect a new pope to tackle the daunting problems facing the 1.2-billion-member Church at one of the most difficult periods in its history.}}

The 115 cardinal electors aged under 80 began moving early on Tuesday into the Vatican’s Santa Martha hotel, where they will live during the conclave, which starts in the afternoon.

Under an early morning drizzle and to the applause and waves of seminarians, eight of the 11 American cardinal electors left the North American College seminary in a minibus bound for the Vatican to join the other three who already live in Rome.

All cardinals, including those over 80, were due to celebrate a morning Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to pray for guidance in their choice of the man to succeed Pope Benedict, who abdicated last month saying he was not strong enough to confront the Church’s woes.

The cardinal electors have drawn lots for the rooms and suites in Santa Martha, a modern residence which is being used only for the second time to house conclave participants. The first time was in 2005.

The secret conclave, steeped in ritual and prayer, could carry on for several days, with no clear favorite in sight.

In a process dating back to medieval times, the “Princes of the Church” from 48 countries will shut themselves in the Vatican’s frescoed Sistine Chapel.

{wirestory}