VATICAN CITY — Delegations from 132 countries have confirmed their presence at what promises to be a very well-attended and momentous inaugural Mass for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square tomorrow.
Rome authorities are preparing for up to a million people to attend the official start of Pope Francis’ pontificate, although, being a weekday, it’s unlikely numbers will be that high.
Seated on the Holy Father’s right, in front of the facade of the basilica, will be 250 cardinals, bishops and archbishops and — for the first time in over 1,000 years at a Mass of this kind — the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
On the Pope’s left will be heads of state and ministers, including six reigning sovereigns, 31 heads of state, three crown princes, 11 heads of government and many other dignitaries. Among them will be Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., representing President Obama.
A bipartisan congressional delegation will be led by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who chairs the House of Representatives' Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittee.
Also seated in the same area as the heads of state and other dignitaries will be President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
But the Vatican, keen to avoid accusations that it had invited the likes of Jesuit-educated Mugabe to the Mass, has stressed that no one has received invitations. “The delegations are coming to Rome following information of the event made public by the [Vatican] secretary of state,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told reporters this afternoon. “There were no ‘invitations’ sent out. All who wish to come are warmly welcomed.”
Also seated close to the Pope will be Jewish and Muslim representatives and members of other religions, together with around 1,200 priests and seminarians, as well as diplomats accredited to the Holy See and civil authorities.
Reception of Communion
The liturgy in St. Peter’s Square is expected to be relatively simple and “not too long,” about two hours, the Vatican said, and, interestingly, Pope Francis will not be distributing holy Communion. It’s not clear why, but the Vatican seemed to infer it was to keep the Mass shorter and simpler (500 priests and deacons will be on hand to distribute Communion throughout the square).
Some observers, however, believe it is so the Pope is not put in the awkward position of giving Communion to Catholic leaders such as Biden and Pelosi, whose public positions on abortion are at odds with Catholic teaching. As cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis was categorical in disallowing Communion to any who facilitated an abortion, politicians included.
Pope Francis will enter St. Peter’s Square in the Popemobile shortly before 9am and travel around the square so the crowd will be able to see him up close.
He will then return to the sacristy in the basilica, where he will be taken to St. Peter’s tomb, under the high altar, while trumpets will announce the “Tu es Petrus.” The Pope will venerate the tomb of St. Peter, together with the patriarchs and major archbishops of the Eastern-rite Catholic Churches (10 in number, four of whom are cardinals). He will then be presented with the pallium (papal vestment), papal ring and Book of the Gospels that were placed at St. Peter’s tomb the night before.
The Holy Father will then return to the main floor of the basilica, from which the procession continues. The Laudes Regiae (Christ Is King) will be chanted, with some invocations taken from Lumen Gentium (Light of the Nations), the Second Vatican Council’s dogmatic constitution on the Church. In the Litany of Saints will be popes who have been canonized (not beatified), up to the most recent: St. Pius X. The procession will then make its entrance into St. Peter’s Square.
About 180 Church leaders — including all of the cardinals present in Rome, the Eastern patriarchs and major archbishops and the superior generals of the Order of Friars Minors and the Jesuits, respectively Father Jose Rodriguez Carballo and Father Adolfo Nicolas Pachon — are expected to concelebrate the Mass.
Three Papal Rites
The Vatican highlighted three important rites, specific to the beginning of the Bishop of Rome’s Petrine Ministry, that will take place before the Mass. These include the imposition of the pallium, made of lamb’s wool and sheep’s wool, that symbolizes the Good Shepherd, who carries the lost sheep on his shoulders. The one to be used by Francis is the same one that Benedict XVI used, and it will be placed on the Pope’s shoulders by French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the protodeacon who announced the new Pope to the world last Wednesday. A prayer will then be recited by Cardinal Godfried Daneels, protopresbyter and archbishop emeritus of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium.
Secondly, the Pope’s “Fisherman’s Ring” — whose name derives from Peter, the fisherman apostle called to be a “fisher of men” — will be presented to the Pope by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals. Pope Francis’ ring is notable in that it has close links with Pope Paul VI. In a statement, the Vatican explained the ring’s provenance as deriving from Archbishop Pasquale Macchi, former personal secretary of Pope Paul VI, who kept the wax cast of a ring made for Paul VI by the artist Henry Manfrini.
“The ring was never cast into metal,” the Vatican said, “and Paul VI had never wore it because he always wore the ring that was commissioned at the time of the Second Vatican Council. Archbishop Macchi left the cast, along with other objects, to Msgr. Ettore Malnati, who worked closely with him for many years. Msgr. Malnati made a ring of gold-plated silver from the wax cast. This was offered to Pope Francis, along with several other possible rings, by the papal master of ceremonies, through the auspices of Cardinal Re. It was this ring that Pope Francis chose to be the ring of the fisherman, presented to him at the Mass of inauguration of his Petrine ministry.”
In the third rite, six representative cardinals will approach the Pope to make an act of obedience. This emphasis on obedience is new, as one of the last acts of Benedict XVI and emblematic of his wish to foster unity around the Successor of Peter (the cardinals electors have already pledged to obey the Pope, at the end of the conclave in the Sistine Chapel). At the moment when the Pope “takes possession” as Bishop of Rome of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, another act of obedience will also be made, this time by representatives of the various members of the people of God.
The Mass will be that of the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the Gospel will be proclaimed in Greek, and the Pope will give his homily in Italian, with spontaneous remarks expected. There will be no offertory procession, to keep the ceremony shorter.
At the end of the celebration, the Holy Father will greet the heads of the official delegations from various countries in the basilica, before returning to his temporary residence in the Domus Sanctae Marthae for lunch. The Pope will receive delegations of the Christian churches and ecclesial communities and of other religions in audience on Wednesday.
The Papal Motto
Also announced ahead of the inaugural Mass was the Pope’s coat of arms and motto. These are the same that he used as bishop, but instead of the wide-brimmed, red cardinal’s hat atop the shield, it is now crowned by the papal tiara and crossed keys.
Pope Francis’s motto is “Miserando atque Eligendo” (“Because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him”), taken from the Venerable Bede’s homily on the Gospel account of the call of Matthew.
The Vatican said it holds “special meaning for the Pope,” because, when he was only 17 years old, after going to confession on the feast of St. Matthew in 1953, “he perceived God’s mercy in his life and felt the call to the priesthood, following the example of St. Ignatius of Loyola.”
Edward Pentinis the Register’s Rome correspondent.
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So…Biden/Pelosi, et al are going to be permitted to receive the Holy Eucharist? What a shame…could be a very big teaching moment to make a point imho
I’ll be watching! Hope Biden and Pelosi are moved to a change of hearts as well as many other world leaders.
So Joe Biden is going. He’s Catholic and pro-choice (abortion). Canon law says those in manifest grave sin cannot be given the Eucharist. I wonder how Pope Francis will handle this?
Chris Smith is not a Democrat. He is a Republican and the head of the House pro-life caucus. I interned for him in 1996, and he had an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in his office. He was probably one of the best examples of a Catholic politician I have ever known in the US.
Beautiful! Pope Francis seems to be hitting all the right notes in this sacred symphony.
Gracious! after the pomp of the former Popes, this is a new view! Still and all I hope that we not forget the dignity of Liturgy that Pope Benedict worked so hard to restore! After all the work that we have been through in the past year with all the language changes and the new interest in the GIRM, etc. I sincerely hope that we are not going to return to the state of Liturgy of the 80’s!
I was so excited to hear Pope Francis mention the importance of creation care SIX TIMES during his homily at the Inaugural Mass!
“Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be ‘protectors’ of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.”
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/03/19/pope:_homily_for_inaugural_mass_of_petrine_ministry_[full_text]/en1-674758
WHAT TIME WILL IT BE TELECISED???????
The pope will not give communion to those public officials who are pro-abortion. That is the good news. The bad news is that he didn’t distribute communion so he would not be put in an awkward position. Isn’t it the other way around. Pelosi and Biden would be put in an awkward position in rec. communion. Another pope without a backbone.
Million “MAN” Mass, you say? Then your lead sentence talks about a million PEOPLE. There are WOMEN in that group, you know! Yes, I realize you were playing on the term “Million Man March”, but that event WAS gender specific. This is NOT. What a way to garner the support of Catholic women, especially when tensions of Catholic women are at an all-time high with the Vatican. I’m not what I’d call a women’s libber, but that headline just showed blantant ignorance and insensitivity or just bull-headed stubbornness to hang on to a past we haven’t seen since the early 1960s!
I heard on EWTN that then Cardinal Bergoglio in Argentina and now Pope Francis, is very strict on the rule regarding “pro abortion” politicians receiving Holy Communion, calm down people, different person on the Chair of Peter but the teachings of the Church remain unchanged, you can count on that. Just pray and evangelize, that’s our job. Regarding Biden and Pelosi, remember the reading two Sundays ago, the Prodigal son, if you are so full of it, you might consider yourself righteous, then Jesus does not come for you, He came for people like Biden and Pelosi. Annoying as they are, we must pray for their conversion.
Alicia: Yes, we pray for them and their conversion, but that does not mean they get to desecrate Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist as they are notorious public scandalizers of the faith.
It also endangers their own immortal souls. So by denying them reception of the Holy Eucharist we are actually calling them to deeper conversion and providing a fraternal correction.
Praying for conversion and loving others does not mean permitting and confirming people in their grave sin.
God bless.
Are any practicing Catholics representing our government?
Perhaps Biden and Pelosi should attend the
Mass clothed (and masked) as black-attired penitents with the Spanish style hood. They deserve to be publicly recognized as sinners, as they aid and abet abortion from the highest levels of government. Pray for their repentence, that the cloak of evil will fall away from their earthly bodies and tongues.
Paul, if it was up to me, I excommunicate them long ago… Although, excommunication can be done by one’s own action which inconsistent with the Church Teachings. More reasons for the existence of Heaven and Hell.
Heretics, J. Biden and N. Pelosi, deserve to be humiliated by denying them the Holy Eucharist; the Body, Blood, soul, and divinity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! The Obama administration is the mystical body of Satan with its ferocious attacks on Holy Church, her divine Sacraments, and her infallible teachings. No need to dialogue with the devil and his consorts in the Obama administration.
Where can we read the homily on the placement/displacement of the tabernacle?
The word “Man” includes wo-man.
REVNC
It is very helpful when EWTN interperts the prayers I need the help since I don’t know many prayers or the other languages.
What a beautiful gift EWTN is.
So Roman Catholics in elected positions are called to be treasonous, just because many Roman Catholics do not believe that sins are forgiven them by the Sacrament of Penance. How shameful are those comments, you don’t receive the Eucharist do you? You don’t love one another, you don’t forgive, what a shame.
It is good to keep it short and simple.As for VP Biden and Senator Pelosi receiving Communion-so what! They are Catholics regarding of their stances on issues and should erceive Communion.There are those who are Catholicbut have legitimate objections to abortion,sex, and homosexuality-should look into becoming a member of Catholics for Chioce and Catholics United.These two wonderful organizations are good any Catholic,who does not share the view of the Chuch,while still remining Catholic.Check it out-it will be the best decision to make for yourself as a Catholic!
Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of a truth which must be believed with divine and Catholic faith. So, if you deny a dogma of the Catholic faith you are a heretic.
@Wordwoman: Please, the English language allows for the inclusion of both male and female when the word “man” is used. It is actually short for mankind which includes everyone. You must be young and don’t remember wordsmithing before the radical sixties and seventies when the sexual revolution wreaked its havoc on our culture and language. The feminists have tainted our culture with their reworking the word “man’ to imply discrimination when used to represent both sexes. Well no discrimination is intended, I am certain. It reminds me of the LGBT who have created the word “homophobe” to cast a negative on all of us who respect God’s image of creation and marriage. Please relax and revel in the gift of our new pope. We are truly blessed. :)
@Ann: You are kidding right? Catholics for Choice and all those who embrace beliefs in opposition to Catholic doctrine and morals are kidding themselves if they think they are still able to be in full communion with the Catholic Church. They are reality big time heretics and cause grave scandal by their embracing this immorality yet calling themselves Catholic in good standing, which receiving Communion implies. I have to assume you are one of those poor unfortunates who has suffered from abysmally poor catechesis during the post Vatican II “virtual” renewal referenced by Pope Benedict XVI. In that case you are invincibly ignorant and I will pray for your enlightenment. As for Pelosi and Biden, they cannot claim such as they are old enough to have received proper catechisis and besides, they cannot have missed the advise given them over these past years admonishing them following their public flaunting of the Church. If one wants abortion, marriage for homosexuals, contraception and/or ordination for women, join a church which allow those. There are plenty of them But do not expect the Church to change. It is not up to the Catholic Church to bend to the embrace of cultural mores of the day. If the Caholic Church loses members because of it, so what? Then we will have a faithful remnant. But to believe that one can deny truth as put forth by the Church which is the Bride of Christ is ignorance, evil or idiocy. Actually it is probably all three.
Apostate Catholics who voted for Obama and abortion automatically excommunicated themselves. On;y a consummate fool would defy the Church Jesus built. Even calling them a Catholic can be scandalous.
Dear “wordwoman” Chill out, dear heart.
It was probably a smart move for the pope not to give communion in general. I’m not sure if he personally knows yet who is and who isn’t pro-abortion on the political stage. I hope somebody tells him for next time.
All should pray for renegade Catholics who support intrinsic evils. They have excommunicated themselves and should not approach the Eucharist until they repent and at the earliest opportunity, receive the Sacrament of Confession.
Are they not familiar with what St. Paul said? “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.”
If our Lord were here, would He not say :
““You defile yourselves with unworthy Communion after mortal sins have been committed. This is an outrage and must be stopped. Do not go to Communion with mortal sin on your soul. It is a grave sin in itself to do this. My priests need to express this more clearly and more often, as many have totally forgotten this teaching. Yet, most who do this are still culpable, because they know of this teaching yet prefer to ignore it. They have reduced the thought of sin in their minds to practically nothing at all, convincing themselves that serious or mortal sin is nearly impossible to commit. I say to you this day, that this is a grave and serious error which you must overcome, if you wish to enter the Kingdom of Heaven which I have prepared for you. You will not enter with mortal sin on your souls. You have cut yourselves off from My grace by your actions and will not be allowed to set foot in My Father’s house.”*
*As reported from the book, “the Apostolate of Holy Motherhood.”
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