ROME, VIS/mda. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio SJ has been elected Pope, the 265th successor of St Peter, and has taken the name Francis. He is the first Latin American Pope, the first Jesuit Pope, and the first Francis. He is the Pope who met with the Schoenstatt Fathers of the Sion Patris Province less than two weeks ago. At this meeting he said that the Church has to become more missionary, that it has “to go out onto the streets”, and support those who suffer…
At 8:24pm, the Holy Father Francis, preceded by the Cross, appeared at the Loggia of the brightly lit Vatican Basilica. Before imparting the “Urbi et Orbi” (“to the city and the world) apostolic blessing he greeted the enormous crowd that had been gathering all afternoon in cold and rainy St. Peter’s Square saying:
“Dear brothers and sisters,
Good evening. You know that the duty of the Conclave was to give Rome a bishop. It seems that my brother cardinals picked him from almost the ends of the earth. But here we are! I thank you for the warm welcome. The diocesan community of Rome has its bishop. Thank you! First and foremost I would like to say a prayer for our Bishop Emeritus Benedict XVI. Let us pray together for him, that the Lord bless him and the Virgin keep him.”
After leading the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Gloria, Pope Francis again addressed the crowd saying:
“And now let us begin this journey, bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome, which is the one that leads all the churches in charity. A journey of fraternity, of trust between us. Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the world so that this might be a great brotherhood. I hope that this journey of the Church that we begin today, and in which my Cardinal Vicar here present will assist me, will be fruitful for the evangelization of this beautiful city.”
“Now I would like to impart the blessing, but first, first I ask a favor of you. Before the bishop blesses the people, I ask that you pray to the Lord that He bless me: the prayer of the people asking a blessing for their bishop. Let us pray in silence, this your prayer for me.”
“Now I will impart the blessing to you and all the world, to all men and women of good will.”
After imparting the apostolic blessing Pope Francis added: “Brothers and sisters, I take my leave. Thank you for your warm welcome. Tomorrow I’m going to pray to the Virgin, that she will safeguard all of Rome. Good night and rest well.”
A Church of open doors
In his message for Holy Week Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis I, challenged all Movements and parishes to go out onto the streets “as living Christs” and in this way transform the Church into a “Church with open doors”. These doors stand open not only to welcome people, but so that believers can go out and celebrate Christ in the midst of the world, and in this way help those who do not come on their own, because “the Church calls upon us unceasingly to the New Evangelisation, and asks us to take practical steps in witnessing what we are and what we have received.”
“Time is of the essence. We have no right to remain caressing our own souls. We have no right to close ourselves off in our own tiny, narrow knick-knacks. We have no right to love one another in all peace and quiet. … We have to go out and talk to the people of the city we see on the balconies. We have to go out from our eggshell and tell them that Jesus is alive, that Jesus is living for them, for each one, and we have to say this with joy … even when it sometimes seems a bit crazy to us.”
