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Mass to install Pope Benedict XVI begins
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-24 17:06
Tens of thousands of pilgrims joined religious and world leaders for Pope
Benedict XVI's formal installation on Sunday, a tradition-steeped ceremony that
officially launches the pontificate of the 265th leader of the Roman Catholic
Church.
Girls wearing Bavarian national
costumes cheer prior to the installment Mass of Pope Benedict XVI in St.
Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 24, 2005. An estimated
500,000 pilgrims, many of them from Germany, arrived in Rome for the
ceremony to formally install Pope Benedict XVI and offer the pontiff a
major chance to set the tone for his papacy.
[AP] |
Wearing golden vestments and
clutching his pastoral staff, Benedict began the ceremony by walking into the
area under St. Peter's Basilica where St. Peter is believed to be buried, paying
homage to the first pope and blessing the tomb with incense as a choir chanted.
Priests bearing Benedict's Fisherman's Ring and the woolen shawl that he will
wear — both symbols of his papal authority — led off a procession of cardinals
out the basilica and onto the steps leading to the square, where tens of
thousands of people gathered under a brilliant spring sun for the two-hour Mass.
The crowds applauded as Benedict emerged from the basilica to the chant of
the Litany of Saints.
There were fewer people than the 3 million who flocked to Rome for the
funeral of Pope John Paul II on April 8, but the square filled up and overflowed
onto the Via della Concilazione leading to it.
Many people toted banners and flags — including from Benedict's native
Germany — even as they kept former Pope John Paul II in the back of their minds.
"We don't know much about him, but he seems good," said Enrico Protti, an
artisan from Asti, near the northern city of Turin, who drove with his wife and
two daughters to Rome for the Mass. "If we can, we'll bring a flower also to
(the tomb of) John Paul."
The open-air Mass offered the pontiff a major platform to set the tone for
his papacy and also gave other religious leaders an opportunity to assess any
new directions in the Vatican.
Along with an estimated 100,000 pilgrims from the pope's native Germany,
political and ceremonial dignitaries included German Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder, Prince Albert II of Monaco and Florida Governor Jeb Bush.
Also on the guest list were the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams;
Metropolitan Chrisostomos, a top envoy for Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I,
the spiritual leader of the world's Christian Orthodox, and a senior
representative of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Kirill.
Few top Islamic leaders promised to attend, and the Jewish presence was
complicated by the weeklong Passover holiday, which began Saturday.
Italian authorities had tight security in place. Zodiac boats patrolled the
Tiber River, a no-fly zone was imposed within a five-mile radius from the
Vatican for most of Sunday, Italian forces had anti-missile systems in place and
warplanes on patrol alongside NATO surveillance aircraft. Some 10,000 police
were being deployed.
The Mass brings Benedict back to the steps of St. Peter's Basilica, where he
gave a moving funeral homily for the late pope that may have helped convince
fellow cardinals to chose Joseph Ratzinger as the new pontiff Tuesday.
Even before his official installation as pope, Benedict was framing a papacy
meant to dispel his widespread image as the dour guardian of Roman Catholic
doctrine, a post he held for 24 years under John Paul.
He has promised to seek greater ties with all Christians and open "sincere
dialogue" with other faiths. Already, those pledges and his relaxed manner have
softened the rigid reputation.
In 1978, John Paul walked to the crowds after his installation. But security
worries — and memories of the 1981 assassination attempt against the late
pontiff — have since placed limits on papal movements.
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