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| Pope Visits Assisi, Bearing the Message of a Favored Saint | Pope Visits Assisi, Bearing the Message of a Favored Saint |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| ASSISI, Italy — It was clear from the moment that Pope Francis began his first visit to the town of the saint whose name he shares that he would use personal, intimate gestures to send a strong message. | ASSISI, Italy — It was clear from the moment that Pope Francis began his first visit to the town of the saint whose name he shares that he would use personal, intimate gestures to send a strong message. |
| Shortly after dawn, at the Serafico Institute, a religious charitable institution that treats seriously disabled children, the pope stopped to greet each child gathered in the institute’s chapel — more than 100 in all. | Shortly after dawn, at the Serafico Institute, a religious charitable institution that treats seriously disabled children, the pope stopped to greet each child gathered in the institute’s chapel — more than 100 in all. |
| In the room where St. Francis stripped off his clothes to dedicate his life to Christ, living in poverty, the pope used similar warm gestures addressing a group of poor people, challenged “by this savage world.” | In the room where St. Francis stripped off his clothes to dedicate his life to Christ, living in poverty, the pope used similar warm gestures addressing a group of poor people, challenged “by this savage world.” |
| Francis is not the first pope to visit this tiny town, which attracts six million tourists and pilgrims each year. More than a dozen popes have come over the centuries, and John Paul II visited six times. But expectations had been high for the pilgrimage of this unpredictable pope, who first startled the world when he announced upon his election in March that he would take the name of a figure celebrated for his simplicity and humanity. | |
| In an interview published this week with the editor in chief of the Rome daily newspaper La Repubblica, the pope acknowledged his spiritual debt to the man known in Italy as the “poverello” (the little poor man), who alongside St. Augustine, the pope said, “is closest to my soul.” | In an interview published this week with the editor in chief of the Rome daily newspaper La Repubblica, the pope acknowledged his spiritual debt to the man known in Italy as the “poverello” (the little poor man), who alongside St. Augustine, the pope said, “is closest to my soul.” |
| The pope used the occasion of the Feast Day of St. Francis to retrace the footsteps of a holy man widely respected even among people of other faiths. The pope visited the site — now a shrine — where the saint is said to have heard the voice of Jesus and been converted. | The pope used the occasion of the Feast Day of St. Francis to retrace the footsteps of a holy man widely respected even among people of other faiths. The pope visited the site — now a shrine — where the saint is said to have heard the voice of Jesus and been converted. |
| The carefully choreographed pilgrimage was sprinkled with impromptu moments, too, as the pope appealed to the church and to Christians worldwide to divest themselves of worldliness, which leads to “vanity, arrogance and pride,” because “it is bad for us,” he said. | The carefully choreographed pilgrimage was sprinkled with impromptu moments, too, as the pope appealed to the church and to Christians worldwide to divest themselves of worldliness, which leads to “vanity, arrogance and pride,” because “it is bad for us,” he said. |
| Referring on Friday morning to a day of national mourning after the shipwreck of migrants off the island of Lampedusa on Thursday, in which at least 111 people died, the pope said: “Today is a day of tears. Such things go against the spirit of the world.” | Referring on Friday morning to a day of national mourning after the shipwreck of migrants off the island of Lampedusa on Thursday, in which at least 111 people died, the pope said: “Today is a day of tears. Such things go against the spirit of the world.” |
| At times he paused to greet some of the thousands of well-wishers who lined the streets of this medieval town festively bedecked with white and yellow colors. A scribbled sheet hung above the door of a bar invited the pope to stop for a coffee, a lure appealing to the pope’s laid-back manner. | At times he paused to greet some of the thousands of well-wishers who lined the streets of this medieval town festively bedecked with white and yellow colors. A scribbled sheet hung above the door of a bar invited the pope to stop for a coffee, a lure appealing to the pope’s laid-back manner. |
| “In Assisi, everything speaks of Francis, and today, everything speaks of you,” the bishop of Assisi, Domenico Sorrentino, said at the start of the outdoor Mass on Friday morning. | “In Assisi, everything speaks of Francis, and today, everything speaks of you,” the bishop of Assisi, Domenico Sorrentino, said at the start of the outdoor Mass on Friday morning. |
| The new pope’s popularity has also rubbed off on the popular saint. Online visits to the live webcam on the saint’s tomb recently tallied more than 18 million hits, said the Rev. Enzo Fortunato, director of the press office of the Sacred Convent of St. Francis. | The new pope’s popularity has also rubbed off on the popular saint. Online visits to the live webcam on the saint’s tomb recently tallied more than 18 million hits, said the Rev. Enzo Fortunato, director of the press office of the Sacred Convent of St. Francis. |
| Since his election, the pope has begun a series of measures aimed at reforming the Roman Catholic Church, reeling under years of criticism for the way it mishandled sexual abuse scandals involving the clergy, and under more recent allegations of mismanagement and corruption within its administrative bodies. | Since his election, the pope has begun a series of measures aimed at reforming the Roman Catholic Church, reeling under years of criticism for the way it mishandled sexual abuse scandals involving the clergy, and under more recent allegations of mismanagement and corruption within its administrative bodies. |
| He has made changes within the Vatican hierarchy, and he has instituted commissions to examine the inner operations of the Vatican’s financial institutions, which have lately fallen into the cross hairs of Italian prosecutors. | He has made changes within the Vatican hierarchy, and he has instituted commissions to examine the inner operations of the Vatican’s financial institutions, which have lately fallen into the cross hairs of Italian prosecutors. |
| This week, a group of eight cardinals handpicked by the pope began meeting at the Vatican to discuss how to make changes to the 2,000-year-old institution. On Thursday, at the end of a three-day meeting, the Vatican announced that the cardinals planned to redact “a new constitution with significant new aspects” to regulate the Curia, as the administrative arm of the Vatican is known. | This week, a group of eight cardinals handpicked by the pope began meeting at the Vatican to discuss how to make changes to the 2,000-year-old institution. On Thursday, at the end of a three-day meeting, the Vatican announced that the cardinals planned to redact “a new constitution with significant new aspects” to regulate the Curia, as the administrative arm of the Vatican is known. |
| The intent is to place the Curia at the service of the universal church, “in terms of subsidiarily, rather than the exercise of centralized power,” the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told reporters on Thursday. | The intent is to place the Curia at the service of the universal church, “in terms of subsidiarily, rather than the exercise of centralized power,” the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told reporters on Thursday. |
| Francis took the opportunity on Friday to dispense down-to-earth advice. To feuding newlyweds, he said, “Let the flying dishes fly, but don’t go to bed angry,” during a speech to consecrated persons and members of the diocesan pastoral council. He called on the clergy to resist giving “interminable and boring homilies where no one understands anything.” And he fondly recalled the days when parish priests knew the names of all their parishioners, “and even the name of the dog in each family.” | Francis took the opportunity on Friday to dispense down-to-earth advice. To feuding newlyweds, he said, “Let the flying dishes fly, but don’t go to bed angry,” during a speech to consecrated persons and members of the diocesan pastoral council. He called on the clergy to resist giving “interminable and boring homilies where no one understands anything.” And he fondly recalled the days when parish priests knew the names of all their parishioners, “and even the name of the dog in each family.” |