Pope Bendict XVI consecrated
Apr 25, 2005
In a joyous ceremony combining modern and ancient elements, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday accepted the Fisherman’s Ring and the woollen pallium symbolising his leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.
VATICAN CITY, Sunday – In a joyous ceremony combining modern and ancient elements, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday accepted the Fisherman’s Ring and the woollen pallium symbolising his leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.
He was seated in a great white and gold chair under a colorful tapestry depicting the Biblical miracle of the fish — hung from the balcony where his election as the head of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics was proclaimed last Tuesday.
The inaugural mass was concelebrated by 150 cardinals with squat white miters and off-white cloaks with sparkling gold markings over white vestments worn to mark the sacred nature of the occasion.
The 78-year-old Benedict, wearing a gold miter and cloak over his white vestments and carrying the crucifix so long associated with his predecessor John Paul II’s public outings, waved to the roaring crowd as he emerged into the sunlight gracing St Peter’s Square.
As with John Paul II’s funeral on April 8, the square was a patchwork of colors, with a purple swath of bishops, a white section of nuns and priests and the black of dignitaries from dozens of countries.
Swiss Guards provided the colorful face to a security operation involving some 10,000 mostly plain clothed officers dotted around the crowd approaching some 500,000.
In a break with past papal inaugurations — when all attending cardinals took part in a rite of allegiance, kneeling before the pope and kissing his hand — on Sunday the ceremony was performed by a selection of 12 people, equal to the number of apostles.
Ends
He was seated in a great white and gold chair under a colorful tapestry depicting the Biblical miracle of the fish — hung from the balcony where his election as the head of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics was proclaimed last Tuesday.
The inaugural mass was concelebrated by 150 cardinals with squat white miters and off-white cloaks with sparkling gold markings over white vestments worn to mark the sacred nature of the occasion.
The 78-year-old Benedict, wearing a gold miter and cloak over his white vestments and carrying the crucifix so long associated with his predecessor John Paul II’s public outings, waved to the roaring crowd as he emerged into the sunlight gracing St Peter’s Square.
As with John Paul II’s funeral on April 8, the square was a patchwork of colors, with a purple swath of bishops, a white section of nuns and priests and the black of dignitaries from dozens of countries.
Swiss Guards provided the colorful face to a security operation involving some 10,000 mostly plain clothed officers dotted around the crowd approaching some 500,000.
In a break with past papal inaugurations — when all attending cardinals took part in a rite of allegiance, kneeling before the pope and kissing his hand — on Sunday the ceremony was performed by a selection of 12 people, equal to the number of apostles.
Ends