"I Hope You Don't Regret This': Joking Pope Francis Has the House in Stitches at Celebration Dinner

By Ross Lydall Lizzie Edmonds and Michael Day in Rome
London Evening Standard
March 13, 2013

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/i-hope-you-dont-regret-this-joking-pope-francis-has-the-house-in-stitches-at-celebration-dinner-8531965.html

First Mass: Pope Francis celebrates his inaugural Mass inside the Sistine Chapel

Pope Francis took worshippers by surprise today when he unexpectedly joined them at an early morning church service on his first day as pontiff. dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The 76-year-old made an unscheduled visit to the Santa Maria di Maggiore Basilica, speaking to churchgoers going to confession and telling the priest to “work hard and be merciful”.

He spent about 30 minutes in prayer at the altar. Father Ludovico Melo, who prayed with him, said: “He spoke to us cordially like a father. We were given 10 minutes’ advance notice that the Pope was coming.”

It followed a celebration dinner in the Vatican last night with the 114 cardinals who elected him the 266th Pope. He jokingly told them: “I hope you don’t regret this.”

US cardinal Timothy Dolan said Francis toasted colleagues and said: “‘May God forgive you’, which brought the house down.”

The Argentinian was elevated from his role as Archbishop of Buenos Aires after five votes of the conclave, becoming the first South American Pope, the first to be a Jesuit, and the first non-European for 1,300 years.

Today he was expected to visit his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who retired last month. The pair spoke on the phone last night. The visit it is seen as significant because of concerns about potential power conflicts between a reigning pope and a retired one.

This evening Francis is due to say Mass for the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel. He will be formally installed as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics on Tuesday, at a service expected to be attended by heads of state and politicians from around the world. The new pontiff, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has taken his papal name from St Francis of Assisi, the humble friar who dedicated his life to helping the poor.

Worshippers at Westminster Cathedral voiced hope that he can lead the Church out of one of the most troubled periods in its history. His election was seen as a compromise between those looking for a clean break from child abuse and alleged corruption scandals, and those who wish to retain links with the Church’s conservative teachings.

Veronica Gasparri, 33, a fashion worker from Rome who is staying in London, said she was at the cathedral to pray for the Pope: “I was crying that I couldn’t be there last night. The atmosphere must have been amazing. He is a simple man and that’s exactly what the church needs right now. I hope he will clean out all the dirt in the church.”

Sister Rita, 62, from Mill Hill, said: “God and the cardinals would have chosen the right person. It is his time now. We have been let down quite a bit in the past and people will be a bit disillusioned. But if he can deliver a real sincere sense of spirituality, other problems will fall into place.”

Fulham therapist Tim Plummer, 47, said: “He is the first South American Pope, that’s great, but is very conservative which worries me. Being traditional about issues like abortion and contraception is negative for the Church.”

Civil servant Adrian Kelly, 54, of Purley, said: “The church needs to come into the 21st century.” Francis’s election elated Latin Americans, who make up 40 per cent of the world’s Catholics.

In Buenos Aires drivers sounded their horns and TV presenters screamed with joy. In Puerto Rico, Jose Antonio Cruz, a friar at St Francis of Assisi church, said: “It’s a huge gift for Latin America. We waited 20 centuries. It was worth the wait. Everyone from Canada down to Patagonia is going to feel blessed.”

Addressing crowds in St Peter’s Square last night, Francis had referred to his nationality, saying: “It seems as if my brother cardinals went to find him from the end of the earth, but here we are. Thank you for the welcome.” The son of Italian immigrants, he denied himself the luxuries previous cardinals in Buenos Aires enjoyed, living in a simple apartment, taking the bus to work, cooking his own meals and regularly visiting slums that ring the city.

Rome hailed Francis, whose descendants are from Piedmont, as the “Italian from Argentina”. Barack Obama said: “As a champion of the poor and vulnerable, he carries forth the message of love and compassion that’s inspired the world for more than 2,000 years: that in each other, we see the face of God.”

Profile: Francis I, a humble man who took the bus to work