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My Roman Catholic friends, you have a new Pope!
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| Geo World
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| Pope washes prisoners’ feet in unprecedented Easter rite |
| By AFP March 29, 2013 – Updated 240 PKT |
ROME: Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 young offenders including two girls and two Muslims at a Rome prison on Thursday in an unprecedented version of an ancient Easter ritual, seen as part of efforts to bring the Catholic Church closer to those in need.
The pope knelt down, washing and kissing the young prisoners’ feet in the first Holy Thursday ceremony of its kind performed by a pontiff in prison, and the first to include women and Muslims.
“Whoever is the most high up must be at the service of others,” Francis said at the mass in the Casal del Marmo youth prison, a fortnight after being elected Latin America’s first pope.
Pope washes prisoners feet in unprecedented Easter rite – geo.tv
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Sundaily
Pope washes prisoners’ feet in unprecedented Easter rite
Last updated on 29 March 2013 – 02:40pm
ROME (March 28, 2013): Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 young offenders including two girls and two Muslims at a Rome prison on Thursday in an unprecedented version of an ancient Easter ritual, seen as part of efforts to bring the Catholic Church closer to those in need.
The pope knelt down, washing and kissing the young prisoners’ feet in the first Holy Thursday ceremony of its kind performed by a pontiff in prison, and the first to include women and Muslims.
“Whoever is the most high up must be at the service of others,” Francis said at the mass in the Casal del Marmo youth prison, a fortnight after being elected Latin America’s first pope.
“I do this with all my heart because it is my duty as a priest, as a bishop. I have to be at your service. I love doing it because this is what the Lord has taught me,” the 76-year-old said.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said many of the participants broke down in tears at the ceremony, which was open only to Vatican media. One young man had to be replaced at the last moment because he was too overcome with emotion.
Video footage from the ceremony showed the pope pouring water over the feet — one of them with tattoos — bending down to kiss them and looking each of the 12 prisoners in the eye before moving on.
Lombardi said that while this was the first time a pope had washed women’s feet, Francis had performed this type of ceremony in his native Argentina many times before becoming pope including in jails, hospitals and old people’s homes.
The Holy Thursday ceremony is usually held in a basilica in the city centre and commemorates the gesture of humility believed to have been performed by Jesus Christ before his death to his 12 disciples at their last meal.
Popes performing the ritual have usually washed the feet of priests.
Pope washes prisoners’ feet in unprecedented Easter rite
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NST
6 March 2013| last updated at 06:49PM
Pope says wants “poor Church and Church for the poor”
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In other parts of his Italian address, much of it unscripted, he said that Catholics should remember that Jesus is the centre of the Church and not the pope.
Francis is taking the helm of the 1.2 billion-member Church at a time of crisis over the worldwide sexual abuse scandal as well as scandals involving intrigue and alleged corruption in the Vatican bureaucracy.
He said the Church, like any institution, had “virtues and sins” and urged journalists to focus on “truth, goodness and beauty” in the course of their work. — Reuters
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Singapore’s Catholics welcome new Pope with hope, optimism
By Elizabeth Soh | Yahoo! Newsroom – 10 hours ago
Getty Images/Getty Images – Pope Francis I was elected early Thursday morning, Singapore time.
The Archdiocese of Singapore “rejoiced” at the election of Pope Francis on Thursday morning.
A statement from Archbishop Nicholas Chia’s office said that it “rejoices and gives thanks to God that we have a new Pope.”
“Pope Francis enjoys the confidence of the College of Electors and is clearly providential in this time of the Church’s history. We pray for God’s continued blessing on Pope Francis with good health, wisdom and strength to lead the Church of Christ,” it read.
Singapore’s Catholics waking up to a new leader on Thursday morning, reacted similarly with joy and renewed hope.
Singapore’s Catholics welcome new Pope with hope, optimism
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Pope Francis blesses the crowd at St Peter’s…
http://video.foxnews.com/v/2223916171001/
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Foxnews.com
Francis is first pope from the Americas; austere Jesuit who modernized Argentine church
Published March 13, 2013
Associated Press
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis is the first ever from the Americas, an austere Jesuit intellectual who modernized Argentina’s conservative Catholic church.
Known until Wednesday as Jorge Bergoglio, the 76-year-old is known as a humble man who denied himself the luxuries that previous Buenos Aires cardinals enjoyed. He came close to becoming pope last time, reportedly gaining the second-highest vote total in several rounds of voting before he bowed out of the running in the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI.
Argentina, Latin America react with joy at first pope from the hemisphere
Published March 13, 2013
Associated Press
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Latin Americans reacted with joy, bursting into tears and cheers on Wednesday at news that an Argentine cardinal has become the first pope from the hemisphere.
“It’s incredible!” said Martha Ruiz, 60, who was weeping tears of emotion after learning that the cardinal she knew as Jorge Mario Bergoglio will now be Pope Francis.
She said she had been in many meetings with the cardinal and said, “He is a man who transmits great serenity.”
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weehingthong 