Pope Francis Inauguration Earns Jorge Bergoglio Label ‘Hope and Change Pope’
The Pope Francis inauguration saw Jorge Mario Bergoglio receive the fisherman’s ring, engraved with the image of St Peter holding two keys, and a lambs’ wool pallium symbolising his role as shepherd of the flock. The speech that Pope Francis gave about the mission of the pope in relation to the poor has already earned him the nickname “the hope and change pope.”
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Pope Francis is the first pontiff from the Americas and the first to take his name from St. Francis of Assisi. As a Jesuit, Jorge Mario Bergoglio has chosen to live a modest lifestyle. The motto Pope Francis I chose for his former Archdiocese is powerful: miserando atque eligendo – “lowly, but chosen.”
As a cardinal, Pope Francis used to cook his own meals, ride the bus with fellow commoners, and opted to live in a humble apartment instead of the available Archbishop’s quarters. The newly minted Pope Francis I even returned to pay his $110 hotel bill since he wanted to set a good example for fellow priests.
At Pope Francis’ inauguration, he spoke of the calling of the pope to be close to the “poorest, the weakest, the least important, those who Matthew lists in the final judgement on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, those in prison”. Pope Francis says his job entails “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.”
Riding in the pope mobile, Pope Francis stopped in St Peter’s Square to kiss a baby and actually got out to bless a disabled man. It’s actions like these that have earned Pope Francis the nickname “the hope and change pope,” which attempts to tie the actions of the new pope to President Obama, who once claimed that moniker.
Still, watching the Pope Francis inauguration, some say that popes don’t change the Vatican, the Vatican changes them:
“He hasn’t actually done much in the way of real policy changes of initiatives, and he certainly is the hope and change pope, but he’s at the head of a body, the Vatican, that’s very resistant to change. I’ve read, for instance, that observers say that you don’t change the Vatican, the Vatican changes you.”
What do you think about the Pope Francis inauguration?
