The Quotation of the Week (March 24-30, 2013)

A quotation of Ronald Reagan on 'helping someone,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Photo (Buddha statue in a garden store in Toronto: May 31, 2012) © Jerome D'Costa

Pope Francis is Installed Today As the 266th Pope

Recently-elected Pope Francis got installed today through the inaugural Mass he offered at St. Peter’s Square, where about 150,000 people were present, report different news sources. 

In his Mass, the Pope received a pallium (a two-inch wide sheep-wool scarf worn over the neck, chest and shoulders, signifying a bishop – in this case, the Bishop of Rome – being the good shepherd of his sheep all over the world), a fisherman’s ring (representing the Apostle Peter -- the first Pope – with the keys, symbolizing papal authority over the Universal Church) and a book of Gospels (symbolizing the Pope being the preacher of the Good News of Jesus Christ). 

Among the present in the Mass were a number of royal dignitaries, heads of state, and diplomats from over 132 countries besides some representatives of different religions, including various Christian denominations,  Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism and several hundred cardinals, bishops, priests and men and women from Religious Orders. 

Unlike his predecessors who gave homilies in Latin, Pope Francis gave his homily in Italian language. He said that the Church’s mission “means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live. It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about.” 

“I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility, let us be protectors of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and the environment,” he further mentioned.

After the Mass, visiting diplomats and visiting representatives of foreign governments greeted the Pope inside St. Peter’s Basilica.

It is noteworthy that breaking the protocol, Pope Francis, while passing by spectators on an open-top Mercedes-Benz SUV, stopped to kiss a baby and he also came out of his vehicle to greet and kiss a totally disabled man. 

The Pope’s humility, austerity and love of common people, have been drawing attention of people of all faiths throughout the world.

Pope Francis offered his inaugural Mass under a canopy erected at the foot of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican

Pope Francis is offering Mass

Pope Francis is blessing the participants

The pope is praying in front a statue of the Madonna

Participants facing St. Peter's Basilica

Participants and pilgrims from different countries

Participants in Pope Francis' inaugural Mass at St. Peter's Square

The Pope is riding an open-top vehicle

The bell at St. Peter's Basilica announces the end of the papal Mass

The Pope kisses a baby

Pope Francis greets and blesses a disabled man in the audience

Photo courtesy: (From top: First six and Nos. 10 and 11 photos - BBC; Nos. 7, 8 and 9 photos - CBC News)

The Quotation of the Week (March 17-23, 2013)

A quotation of Hillary Clinton on 'empowering of women,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Photo (Two women on the veranda of their house at  Bhadun Village, Bangladesh: January 11, 2012) © Jerome D'Costa

How Some Cartoonists See the Election of Pope Francis -- 2

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How Some Cartoonists See the Election of Pope Francis -- 1

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Argentinian Cardinal Becomes Pope Francis

A seagull, as if a symbol of the Holy Spirit, on top of the chimney that announces each papal voting. After the four black-smoke-votes, this gull was sitting on the chimney for quite some time as if signifying the good news that is about to come at the fifth voting.

The fifth vote in the evening of March 13 brought about the positive result of a pope just elected and the white smoke from the chimney is announcing it for the crowd gathered at St. Peter's Square below.

St. Peter's Square is packed with eagerly-waiting spectators from around the world.

Newly-elected Pope Francis appears at the papal balcony and waves at the waiting crowd.

Pope Francis watching the crowd below from the papal balcony.

A close-up of Pope Francis at the balcony above St. Peter's Square, Rome

 Photos courtesy: (From top: Photos 1, 4, 5 & 6 - CBC News, photos 2 & 3 - BBC)

Cardinal Jorge Maria Bergoglio, (76), Archbishop of Buenos Aires of Argentina, was elected the 266^th pope yesterday to succeed Pope Benedict XVI who abdicated on February 28. He took the papal name of ‘Francis’ in honour of St. Francis of Assissi, known for his austere life and solidarity with the poor. 

He Is the First

With the election of Pope Francis, history has been created in the Catholic Church. The new pope is the first non-European in the last 1,000 years. He is the first pope from the Americas. He is also the first Jesuit ever to be a pope.

He Is a Humble but Vocal Person

 Those who know him say that Pope Francis was a humble and austere person emphasizing on the social justice. Instead of living in a palatial building, he as the archbishop and later as cardinal lived in an apartment, often used ordinary public bus as a means of transport, at times cooked his own meals, and visited local slums in impoverished areas of Buenos Aires.

The TIME magazine says: “He considers social outreach, rather than doctrinal battles, to be essential business of the church.” He is also said to have criticized his fellow church leaders “of hypocrisy and forgetting that Jesus Christ bathed lepers and ate with prostitutes.”

The TIME also reports: “Jesus teaches us another way: Go out. Go out and share your testimony, go out and interact with your brother, go out and share, go out and ask. Become the Word in body as well as spirit,” Cardinal Bergoglio told Argentina’s priest last year.

Son of Italian Immigrants in Argentina

Pope Francis was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 17, 1936. He is one of five brothers and sisters whose parents were Italian immigrants. His father was a railroad worker and his mother tended the house and family. 

At the age of 21, he entered the Jesuit Order. Later, he taught literature, philosophy, theology and psychology. 

Since 1998, he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires and, since 2001, the cardinal.

It is worth mentioning that he has only one lung. Due to infection in his teen years, one of his lungs had to be removed. 

To know more of Pope Francis and his background, you may read “Pope Francis: The Life andCareer of the First South American Pontiff.”