Free Republic

ROMA, April 28, 2005 -On Sunday, April 24, Benedict XVI inaugurated his “Petrine ministry as bishop of Rome”in the sunlight of a Saint Peter’s Square overflowing with crowds. But his first intention was different. He had wanted to celebrate his first solemn mass as pope, not in the square, but inside the basilica of Saint Peter. “Because there the architecture better directs the attention toward Christ, instead of the pope,” he told the masters of ceremonies on Wednesday, April 20, his first full day as the elected pope. Only the immense number of faithful who were coming induced him to...