Pope Francis I attends his inauguration Mass in Rome

The new pope waved to joyous crowds at St. Peter’s Square before the inauguration Mass began

14:50 19 March 2013

Pope Francis I, who was elected as leader of the Catholic Church last week, is in Rome, Tuesday 19^thMarch, for his inauguration Mass. The ceremony will officially mark the beginning of his papacy.

 

Ahead of the inauguration Mass, the pope waved to many thousands of people at St. Peter’s Square. And differing from the previous pope-mobile, Pope Francis looked out onto the crowd from an open-roofed vehicle as he toured the square.

 

Barriers that were in place in front of the throng of people stretched far and wide, with so many individuals eager to get a glimpse of the new pontiff.

 

Pope Francis then made his way away from the crowd in order for the service to begin at 9.30am local time (around 8.30am GMT). It thought that around one million spectators were present at the start of the mass, including certain figureheads.

 

Pope Francis is the 266^th holy man to be elected in the role. Prior to his new post, he was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The pope was born in 1936, named Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

 

The Argentinian took his position as the new religious leader following the resignation of Benedict XVI on February 28^th, 2013.