TO WALK, TO BUILD, TO WITNESS, ALWAYS WITH THE CROSS OF CHRIST

Vatican City, 14 March 2013 (VIS) – This afternoon, the Holy Father Francis celebrated the “pro Ecclesia” Mass in the Sistine Chapel with the 114 Cardinal electors who participated in the Conclave and those who assisted with its functions.

The first reading was a canticle from the Prophet Isaiah that begins with the words: “In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain” and continues with the celebrated verses: “He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.” The second reading was from the First Letter of Peter dedicated to the common priesthood of the faithful, which reads: “like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood” and exhorts us to be “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light”. The Gospel reading told the story of Peter's confession when Christ asked His disciples: “And you, who do you say I am?” and Peter answered “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply: “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”

In his first homily as Pope, and speaking in Italian without a text, Francis noted that the three readings have something in common: “Movement. In the first reading the movement is the journey; in the second the movement is the building of the Church; in the Gospel the movement is in the witness. To walk, to build, to witness.”

The pontiff recalled that the first thing God said to Abraham was: “'Walk in my presence and be blameless.' Our life is a path. When we stop walking there is something that isn't right. To walk always in the presence of the Lord, in the light of the Lord, seeking to live the blamelessness that God asks of Abraham in His promise.”

“To build,” he continued, “to construct the Church. This means stones. Stones are solid but these are living stones, stones that are anointed by the Holy Spirit. To build the Church, the Bride of Christ, on the cornerstone that is the Lord himself.”

“To witness … We can walk when we want to, we can build many things, but if we do not witness to Jesus Christ then it doesn't matter. We might become a philanthropic NGO but we wouldn't be the Church, the Bride of the Lord. When we don't go forward we stop...we go backwards. When we don't build on rock, what happens? The same thing that happens to children when they build sandcastles at the beach. They wind up falling down because they have no solidity.” Then, citing Leon Bloy, the Holy Father affirmed: “Whoever does not pray to God, prays to the devil” because “when we don't witness to Jesus Christ, we witness to the worldliness of the devil.”

“To walk, to build, to witness. But this is not so easy because when we walk, when we build, when we witness, at times there are upsets, there are movements that aren't proper to the journey. They are movements that pull us back.”

“In the Gospel,” the Pope continued, “even Peter who confessed Jesus as Christ, says to Him: 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. I will follow you but let's not talk about the Cross. That doesn't have anything to do with it. … I'll follow you, without the Cross.” But, “when we walk without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess a Christ without the Cross … we aren't disciples of the Lord. We are worldly, we are bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord.”

“And I wish that all of us, after these grace-filled days, might have the courage, yes, the courage to walk in the Lord's presence with the Cross of the Lord, to build the Church on the blood of the Lord that is poured out on the Cross and to witness to the sole glory: to the crucified Christ. And thus the Church will move forward.”

“I wish for us all that the Holy Spirit, through the intercession of Mary, our Mother, grant us this grace: to walk, to build, and to witness to Jesus Christ.”

After the homily, the Prayers of the Faithful prayed for the new pontiff and also for His Holiness Benedict XVI, “that he may serve the Church while hidden to the world, in a life dedicated to prayer and meditation.” The also prayed that national leaders “not act with force or for personal interest, not in tyranny over persons, but conscious that every power comes from God.” Finally, they recalled “those who are suffering and those who are lost in the struggles of life. That Christ, the supreme Shepherd, may restore and console them and crown them with glory.”

At the end of the Mass the pontiff visited the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace.

NEW POPE FRANCIS VISITS ST. MARY MAJOR, COLLECTS SUITCASES AND PAYS BILL AT HOTEL

Vatican City, 14 March 2013 (VIS) – It was no secret. Like one who has no cares that everyone knows what he intended to do, at 8:24pm last night in his first public appearance he stated: “Tomorrow I am going to pray to the Virgin, for the safekeeping of all of Rome.” Then at 8:05 this morning, leaving the Vatican for the first time as pontiff, the newly elected Pope took one of the Gendarmerie's simple service cars to the papal basilica of St. Mary Major, the oldest and largest church dedicated to the Virgin in Rome. It is also one of the four largest in Rome and claims the King of Spain as its proto-canon. The new pontiff of the Catholic Church chose to enter through one of the basilica's side doors.

Upon entering the basilica the Pope headed toward the venerated icon of Our Lady “Salus Populi Romani" (Protectress of the Roman People) accompanied by, among others, Cardinal Santos Abril y Castello, archpriest of the basilica and Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome.

The Holy Father, after leaving the Virgin a bouquet of flowers on the altar, prayed silently for about 10 minutes before the main altar that is directly above the crypt containing relics of the crib or manger of the Nativity of Jesus. He also visited the basilica's Sistine Chapel, which is where St. Ignatius of Loyola celebrated his first Mass after being ordained a priest. He waited several months, until Christmas Eve 1538, to say his first Mass. “It is a very significant place in Jesuit spirituality,” Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office, noted. Finally, the new Roman Pontiff also stopped to pray before the tomb of St. Pius V, which is also in that chapel.

Pope Francis also greeted the basilica's chapter of canons, confessors, and priests as well as all the personnel that work there and the faithful and journalists that he met along the way.

The Holy Father left as he had arrived, with a minimal escort and entourage. He was accompanied by Archbishop Georg Ganswein and Msgr. Leonardo Sapienza, S.C.I., respectively prefect and regent of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household. Along the way, however, he surprised everyone by first sending an affectionate greeting to children from a nearby school and then by asking his driver to stop by the Domus Internationalis “Paulus VI” near Piazza Navona where he had stayed before entering the Conclave. The Pope greeted those working there, gathered his belongings, and paid his bill.

MASS WITH CARDINAL ELECTORS IN THE SISTINE CHAPEL

The Holy Father's first liturgical celebration will be with the cardinals who participated in the Conclave at 5:00pm this afternoon. They will concelebrate the “For the Church” Mass in Latin, with the readings in Italian. As the Vatican spokesman commented, “the Pope's homily will probably be in Italian”. General information regarding the readings and prayers can be found at the Office for Liturgical Celebrations page of the Vatican website.

After that Mass, the Holy Father will go to the apartment prepared for him at the Domus Sanctae Marthae though, as Fr. Lombardi reported, “he will only be there a short time as the Pope is expected to move quickly into the Vatican apartments, which are now almost ready for him.”

The director of the Holy See Press Office commented on the Pope's first public appearance yesterday evening, greeting the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square. He noted a few significant gestures that characterized the simplicity and serenity of that encounter, beginning with the Pope's request that the faith pray for him and his choice of vestments. “The new Pope wore neither the red “mozzetta” (the elbow-length cape worn by high-ranking prelates) nor a stole and his pectoral cross was the same simple one that he has worn as bishop and Cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The choice of his name Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, strongly recalls the saint's evangelical spirituality and radical poverty. His papal name is simply 'Francis', not 'Francis I', since he is the first pontiff to bear that name. If after him another pontiff chooses that name then he will be 'Francis I'.”

Another gesture made by the new Pope, Fr. Lombardi continued, was that yesterday in the Sistine Chapel, when his cardinal brothers paid him homage, instead of sitting on the papal throne, he stood as he received them. Then, instead of taking the papal car that had been prepared for him to return to the Domus Sanctae Marthae, he took the same minibus he had arrived in along with the other cardinals. He briefly addressed the cardinals at the festive supper, after thanking them, saying “may God forgive you [for what you have done]”.

The director of the Holy See Press Office also answered a question regarding the renewal of the heads of the curial offices in their positions. “It is traditional that in the first days of his pontificate that the new Pope confirms those appointments. In the past few times they were confirmed “until further notice” in the first days of the pontificate as customary and then, at a later moment, little by little the Popes chose their close collaborators with complete freedom. This is a very personal act of government that falls solely to the Pope.”

Regarding the security problems that could arise from the more “informal” style of the new Pope, Fr. Lombardi pointed out that “those responsible for the security of the pontiff are at his service and adapt their methods to protect each Pope in their personal style. John Paul II, for example, was a pontiff who broke with all expectations and went to greet people without any prior warning. Those entrusted with the Pope's security adjust their methods to protect each in their own way.”

Finally, speaking of Pope Francis' health, Fr. Lombardi confirmed the report that, when he was young, some 40 years ago, he had a pulmonary illness and part of one lung was removed but that “this has never been an obstacle either in his rhythm or for his work, his life, or his pastoral care, as demonstrated by leading a diocese that requires such dedication as that of Buenos Aires.”

POPE FRANCIS' FIRST ACTIVITIES

Vatican City, 14 March 2013 (VIS) – During the course of this afternoon's press conference, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office, repeated the information for the upcoming papal events after this afternoon's Mass in the Sistine Chapel with the Cardinal electors.

On Friday, 15 March, at 11:00am in the Clementine Hall he will meet with the full College of Cardinals, electors and non-electors, in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace. As the Holy See Press Office spokesman noted, this will be a familial gathering, with the Pope personally greeting each of the cardinals.

On Saturday at 11:00am in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope will hold an audience with accredited journalists (permanent and temporary) and those who work in the media.

On Sunday, 17 March at 12:00pm, he will recite the first Angelus of his papacy from the papal apartments overlooking St. Peter's Square, as is customary.

On Tuesday, 19 March—the Feast of St. Joseph, patron of the Church—the Mass to inaugurate the new papacy will be held at 9:30am in St. Peter's Square. No tickets will be issued for that Mass. All who wish may attend.

On Wednesday, 20 March, he will hold an audience with fraternal delegates so there will not be a General Audience.