Pope Francis to Meet with College of Cardinals

Voice of America
March 15, 2013

http://www.voanews.com/content/pope-francis-to-meet-with-college-of-cardinals/1621951.html

People watch Pope Francis on a giant screen at St. Peter's square as he celebrates his inaugural Mass with cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel, at the Vatican, March 14, 2013.

Pope Francis is set to hold an audience Friday with the College of Cardinals who elected him, in his first days as the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

Before his formal installation as pope on Tuesday, Pope Francis, a native of Argentina and the world's first Latin American pope, is also expected to meet with journalists Saturday. On Sunday he will appear at the window of the papal apartment to recite the Angelus prayer with crowds of worshipers in St. Peter's Square below.

Pope Francis began his first full day as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics Thursday with prayers and a celebration of Mass with the cardinals who elected him.

In remarks at the Sistine Chapel, Pope Francis urged the cardinals to remain faithful to the Gospel and avoid modern temptations. He said if the church loses sight of its mission, it will become no more than another nongovernmental organization.

The pope spoke simply and briefly in Italian, without notes.

Already, he has set the tone for his papacy by wearing simple garments and avoiding the more luxurious trappings of the papacy. Earlier Thursday, he took a plain Vatican car to a basilica devoted to the Virgin Mary to pray. He later stopped by a Vatican hotel to pick up his belongings and paid the bill himself.

Pope Francis's formal inauguration Tuesday will be attended by foreign delegations, including a U.S. delegation led by Vice President Joe Biden, who is a Catholic.

Pope Francis succeeds Benedict, who is now known as pope emeritus.

The new pope, formerly Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, is the first Jesuit - a priest of the Society of Jesus - to be elected to lead the global church and the first of 266 popes throughout the past 2,000 years to take the name Francis.

Argentines are ecstatic about the selection of the first pope from their country, as were Hispanics in the rest of Latin America and elsewhere.

About 40 percent of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics live in Latin America, with Brazil and Mexico having the largest Catholic populations.

Pope Francis, like the 13th century saint whose name he has chosen - St. Francis of Assisi - is noted for his humility and commitment to social issues.

The new pope has been criticized in Argentina for his firm opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion. In addition, a complaint was once filed there claiming he failed to denounce atrocities committed by Argentina's military government between 1976 and 1983.