Francis Ventures Out of Vatican on First Day as Pope
This article is for subscribers only.
Pope Francis ventured outside the Vatican’s walls to pray at a Roman basilica and pay his hotel bill the day after becoming the first Roman Catholic leader to hail from outside Europe in more than 1,200 years.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, offered prayers to Mary, the mother of Jesus, during a morning visit to St. Mary Major in Rome’s historic center. The church must offer “mercy, mercy, mercy” for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, he told priests at the basilica, Father Ludovico Melo said in a Sky TG24 interview.