Pope to meet cardinals after warning on Church’s mission
Pope Francis has rejected papal fineries and called for a return to the Church’s roots
Vatican City: Pope Francis was to address cardinals from around the world Friday following his stark warning that the Church risked becoming just another charitable organisation if it strayed from its true mission.
The new head of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics was to kick off the day with a speech in the ornate 16th-century Clementine Hall in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican.
Former cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the first Latin American and Jesuit pope, has rejected papal fineries and called for a return to the Church’s roots.
On Thursday, he warned that the troubled Catholic Church risks becoming little more than a charity with no spiritual foundations if it fails to undergo renewal.
At his first mass with the cardinals who elected him, the Argentinian said that the Church could “end up a compassionate NGO".
He warned the cardinals against “the worldliness of the Devil".
“Walking, building and confessing are not so easy. Sometimes there are tremors," said the pope, who warned the cardinals against “the worldliness of the Devil".
Bergoglio had begun his reign by demanding to be treated as an ordinary pilgrim, in a sign that simplicity of faith may lie at the heart of his papacy.
After laying a bouquet of flowers in homage to the Virgin Mary in a basilica, Francis walked out to greet the crowds and placed his hand on the belly of a pregnant woman.
He prayed at the altar of St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order to which he belongs before returning to the priests’ quarters where he stayed before the conclave and insisted on settling his own bill.
The election of the son of an Italian emigrant railway worker, who was considered a rank outsider, was met with widespread surprise and expressions of hope for change in a Church riven by scandal and internal conflict.
His elevation was also seen as recognition of the Church’s power in Latin America, which now accounts for 40 percent of the world’s Catholics, while it is in decline in Europe.
Projecting an image as a simple man of the people, the pope chose to name himself after St Francis of Assisi, the 13th century saint who shunned the riches of his family to devote himself to God and the poor.
The Vatican revealed that, for the ride back to the conclave lodgings after Wednesday’s election, Francis shunned the papal limousine with the “Vatican City State One" number plates and instead boarded a minibus with the cardinals.
It was in keeping with his image as a man who as archbishop of Buenos Aires chose to live in a modest apartment rather than the official residence and took buses to work.
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