Pope Francis arrives at Rome basilica for private prayer
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Newly elected Pope Francis and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina waves from the steps of the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome on Thursday, March 14, 2013. Pope Francis arrived at the basilica on Thursday for a private prayer on his first full day as the leader of the Roman Catholic Chuch, following his historic election. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
ROME (AFP) - Pope Francis stopped into a Rome Basilica on Thursday for private prayer on his first full day as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church following his historic election.
The 76-year-old Argentine pope spent about half an hour at Santa Maria Maggiore, one of Rome’s “big four” basilicas.
He was accompanied by around a dozen people including Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, who is both head of the papal household and the personal secretary of Francis’s predecessor Benedict XVI.
On Wednesday Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, called for “fraternity” among the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.
