POPE
Francis has swept into St Peter's Square to greet throngs of pilgrims
before a sumptuous ceremony in which Latin America's first pontiff will
receive the formal symbols of papal power.
Wearing his papal whites and standing in middle of an open-topped
vehicle, the pope waved, smiled and gave the thumbs-up to the ecstatic
crowds in the sun-drenched square.
The crowds had begun gathering
from the early morning for a ceremony laden with centuries-old rituals
and lavish imagery, which will begin with a first-time tour of the
famous Vatican plaza by the Argentine pope.
"With Pope Francis,
the Church will be closer to the people and to the modern world," said
Rodrigo Grajales, a 31-year-old Colombian priest in the crowd, where
people waved flags from around the world and banners hailing the pope.
The
former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, has
already won hearts in Rome with a disarmingly informal style which will
contrast with Tuesday's pomp and ceremony.
Bergoglio was the surprise choice at a conclave of cardinals to find
a successor to 85-year-old Benedict XVI, who last month brought a
sudden end to a papacy that had often been overshadowed by scandal,
saying he was too old to carry on.
He was the first pope to resign since the Middle Ages.
The
jovial Francis has said he chose his papal name in honour of the
medieval Italian saint St Francis of Assisi and has called for a "poor
Church for the poor", warning the world's cardinals against pursuing
worldly glories.
"Go Francis! We Will Be With You Wherever You Go!" read a sign held up by a group of Brazilian nuns on St Peter's Square.
Sister
Rosa, an elderly Italian nun, said she expected the pope would be
"another St Francis on earth for love, goodness, poverty and humility".
The
son of an Italian emigrant railway worker from a working-class quarter
of Buenos Aires has been effusive in a way that is unusual in the
Vatican, kissing pilgrims and doing impromptu walkabouts.
The
arrivals have already presented Francis with a first diplomatic headache
in the form of a request from compatriot President Cristina Kirchner of
Argentina to mediate in a row with Britain over sovereignty of the
Falkland Islands.
Francis is still haunted by criticism at home
for failing to speak out against the excesses of Argentina's military
rule during the dictatorship of the 1970s and 1980s.
The Chinese
government has also said it will not be sending any representatives
after Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said he was attending.
Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe also flew in, sidestepping an EU travel ban
over human rights abuses that does not apply to the Vatican.
Latin
America will be heavily represented at the inauguration of the first
non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years, with the presidents of
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Paraguay all in
attendance.
Leaders of different Christian denominations were also
in attendance, including Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople.
Vatican radio said it was the first time a
patriarch of Constantinople attended an inauguration since 1054 when the
eastern and western halves of Christendom split.
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