When Jorge Bergoglio stepped onto the balcony at the Vatican on Wednesday to reveal himself as the new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, he made history as the first non-European pope of the modern era, the first from Latin America, the first Jesuit and the first to assume the name Francis.
The new pope then quickly made another kind of history, breaking with tradition in his first public act before the 150,000 people packed into St. Peter’s Square. Rather than bless the crowd first, he asked them to pray for him.
«Let us say this prayer, your prayer for me, in silence,» he told the cheering crowd.
The willingness by Francis to dispense with tradition was interpreted by a Vatican spokesman as a sign he will be willing to chart his own path in other ways.
«We have a pope who probably upset some people tonight by not following the formula,» the Rev. Tom Rosica said.
The pontiff also broke with another tradition by refusing to use a platform to elevate himself above the cardinals standing with him as he was introduced to the world as Pope Francis.
«He said I’ll stay down here,» Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York and the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. «He met each of us on our own level.»
Francis, wearing white papal robes, appeared on a rain-soaked night to the throngs shortly after being elected by cardinals in what apparently was the fifth round of voting on the second day of the conclave.
«As you know, the duty of the conclave was to appoint a new Bishop of Rome,» he said.
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Source; www.wlky.com