The largest crowd in St. Peter's Square since the funeral of Pope John Paull II in 2005 attended the official inauguration Mass of Pope Francis I today. The crowd included many notable dignitaries such as United States Vice President Joe Biden as well as faithful citizens of the city. Christian Church delegations, Jewish delegations, Muslim, Buddhists and Sikhs were a part of the mass as well. Nearly 200 thousand in attendance heard Pope Francis' first formal mass, which was focused on the poor and underprivileged.
Pope Francis pledged to serve "the poorest, the weakest, the least important." He spoke of hoping to "not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world. Today, too, amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others," he added to many pauses for appropriate applause.
"Let us never forget that authentic power is service and that the pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked St. Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God's people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison."
Today also marked the unveiling of Pope Francis' coat of arms. A simple design and relatively unchanged from the one he had as a Cardinal, it now shows the crossed keys as a symbol of the papacy. He also chose his official motto: (originally in Latin: "miserando atque eligendo") "because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him." The new Pope also was given the silver and gold Fisherman's Ring in honor of the first Pope, St. Peter.
