Liveblog: Pope Francis – first day after election

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Hispanics in the US greeted the first full day of Pope Francis's reign as the start of a new chapter for them and the church in the Americas, writes Rory Carroll.

Daniela Perez, 39, a web designer in Los Angeles, said he hoped the new pontiff would help the church move on from the paedophilia scandals that have blighted its reputation in recent years.

This is great news, really great. It recognises that we're a huge part of the church. And maybe [Pope Francis] will be able to move us on from all the scandals. We needed this.

Here's a link to my colleague Lizzy Davies' piece on the new pope's first day in office, which clearly suggests he intends to do things his way.

The first sign of a difference in style came from his decision to forgo the papal Mercedes in favour of a standard-issue, black sedan.

That – along with the ermine-trimmed mozzetta and the gold pectoral cross – had been left behind. The new pope, said a Vatican spokesman, seemed to have brought "a new style of doing things".

Catholics on the Falkland Islands want the new Argentine pope to visit the territory, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reports.

The Catholic faithful gathered at St Mary's Church in Port Stanley this morning to celebrate the election of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as the new Pope Francis.

After the mass, the parish priest Michael Bernard McPartland told the paper:

If the Pope goes to Argentina, he should come here too.

In a few months it will not matter where he's from. A Pope is a Pope, he is universal.

During the Falklands war, McPartland, 73, negotiated with the Argentine troops to continue giving mass in English. "The church stayed apart from the conflict, seeking to receive all, as we continue doing today."

Here is a summary of today’s events so far:

On his first day as pontiff, Pope Francis prayed at Rome’s Basilica St Mary Major and celebrated mass with the cardinals who chose him at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. At mass the pope said he hoped they would all have the courage to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the cross of the Lord, and rebuild his church. After the mass the pope was expected to remove the seals on the papal apartments and let workers in to retouch things slightly.

The pope’s installation mass will take place on Tuesday at 9.30am local time (8.30am GMT). On Saturday Pope Francis will meet the media.

At a Vatican press conference, spokesman Father Lombardi said that this morning the pope picked up his suitcases from Casa del Claro, where he had been staying before the conclave, paid his bill and thanked the staff – "to set a good example". The Vatican press office declined to confirm whether or not the pope had actually carried his bags himself. Argentinians could reasonably expect a visit from their countryman, Lombardi said, also confirming that the pope had had a portion of lung removed as a young man but was in good health, and that he speaks Spanish, English, German, French and Italian, and probably some Portuguese.

Lombardi said the new pope would go to see his predecessor at Castel Gandolfo on the outskirts of Rome at some point - but not today, tomorrow, or within the next few days. He and emeritus pope Benedict have talked on the phone, however. Francis named himself after Francis of Assisi, the spokesman confirmed.

Pope Francis, cross in hand, leaves the Sistine Chapel.

The cardinals are filing out of the chapel.

The Sistine Choir sings Tu es Petrus (you are Peter).

Pope Francis gives the cardinal electors his blessing, and the mass ends. Ite, Misse Est is sung.

The last few cardinals receive communion.

The cardinals take communion.

Agnus Dei is sung. The faithful come up to receive communion.

Pope Francis embraces cardinals Giovanni Battista Re and Tarcisio Bertone.

Next follows a prayer that the leaders of nations will not abuse their power, for consolation of suffering, and for strengthened faith for all.

Prayers begin with a prayer for Pope Francis and one for his predecessor, who is described as a servant of the church living a life dedicated to prayer and meditation.

After these days of grace, I hope we will have the courage to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the cross of the Lord, and rebuild his church, the pope says, ending his homily.

We can walk as much as we want, but without Jesus we will go nowhere, the pope says.

When we don't build on rock, what happens, he asks. The same thing that happens when children build sandcastles on the beach – it all comes down.

The Catholic News Service is live-tweeting the mass:

Click here to watch live footage from the Sistine Chapel.

The next reading comes from the Book of Peter.

Psalm 126 is now being sung, by a choirboy and then the cardinals.

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.
 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.

 Restore our fortunes, Lord,
like streams in the Negev.
 Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
 Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.

Isaiah 2:2-5 is now being read:

 In the last days

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.

 Many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
 He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

 Come, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Pope Francis recites the prayers in a soft voice.

The cardinals begin to sing.

The cardinals are dressed in the "gold of rejoicing", the Catholic News Service reports.

The choir sung Tu es Petrus (you are Peter) as the procession entered the chapel.

The pope is celebrating mass at a temporary altar set up in the chapel, rather than the one fixed to the wall next to Michelangelo's Last Judgment.

Here's the scene at the Sistine Chapel.

The cardinals have now gathered in the chapel.

Pope Francis is now holding a mass for the cardinals at the Sistine Chapel.

Why a South American pope? And why now? Nicolás Maduro, the acting president of Venezuela, has the answer: the influence of his charismatic late predecessor, Hugo Chávez. Maduro has said:

We know that our commander ascended to the heights and is face to face with Christ.

Something influenced the choice of a South American pope, someone new arrived at Christ's side and said to him: 'Well, it seems to us South America's time has come.'

Virginia Lopez in Caracas has the full story.

Best "back to me" moment of the day goes to Kay Burley of Sky News, who just asked her Rome correspondent to guess the one thing that she and the pope had in common. "Erm ... you're both without sin?" No, said Kay, moving on swiftly without revealing the answer. Red shoes?

In Washington, Barack Obama invited the Speaker of the House of Representatives and de facto opposition leader, John Boehner, to join the vice-president, Joe Biden, on his trip to the Vatican on Tuesday for the papal investiture.

Whether Biden wanted him to come with him is not known, but in any case Boehner has turned the opportunity down. The Republican congressman said:

I am grateful for the invitation to attend the papal investiture in Rome with Vice-President Biden, and would like to be able to join the trip. Unfortunately, my duties in the House next week - including hosting President Obama and the prime minister of Ireland at the Capitol on Tuesday, and the debate on the budget – make that impossible. I wish the vice-president all the best in his journey, and hope he communicates the prayers and warm regards of every American, especially Catholics, to the first pope from the Americas.

Here's a video clip of Pope Francis at St Mary Major this morning.

Lizzy Davies has news from St Peter's Square:

John Vidal speaks to Chris Bain, director of Catholic development agency Cafod, and asks him what Pope Francis could do to help poor countries. Bain says:

To have a pope from Argentina, from Latin America, is a momentous decision. It demonstrates we are a universal church, one that is understanding of the fact that most of the church lives outside Europe and North America. I hope he will put global poverty, climate change and environmental degradation higher up the church agenda.

The press conference has now finished.

Here's a gallery of photographs from Pope Francis's first day, including this brilliantly Italian picture of a newsagent's in the Vatican. Is that Beppe Grillo on the right? 

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Lombardi says that it is normal for Argentinians to expect a visit from the pope; other popes have visited their home countries.

Lombardi, who is also a Jesuit, says: "For us the idea of a Jesuit pope is very strange." It's something he was not "psychologically prepared" for, he says.

Lombardi confirms that the pope had a portion of a lung removed "years and years" ago when he was a youth. He's in fine health, the spokesman says.

But Lombardi says Benedict XVI was more tied to the academic and theological life, whereas Pope Francis has been more pastoral.

Lombardi advises the press to wait a few days before starting to describe Francis's style and comparing it to those of past popes. (Advice that may well fall on deaf ears.)

This talk of security adapting to the new pope's style seems to have come from Francis's "spontaneity" last night, which evoked memories of John Paul II.

Back to Lombardi's press conference. The Vatican spokesman says that it's traditional that in the first days of a new pontificate, the new pope will temporarily renew the terms of the heads of the curia, the Vatican civil service. But the appointments of curia officers are in the pope's hands.

Vatican security is at the service of the pope and tries to adapt to the pastoral style of a new pontiff, he says. Security does not dictate what the pope does, but must adapt to protect him.

The Anglican Communion News Service is reporting some interesting comments about Francis from the Rt Revd Greg Venables, Anglican bishop of Argentina and former primate of the Southern Cone. Venables reports what he says are Francis's views on Anglicans:

He called me to have breakfast with him one morning and told me very clearly that the Ordinariate was quite unnecessary, and that the church needs us as Anglicans.

The Ordinariate was Pope Benedict's plan to welcome former Anglicans into the Catholic church while allowing them to retain some of their customs and traditions.

Jesuit superior general Father General Adolfo Nicolás says that taking the name of Francis indicates the new pope will be close to the poor, and committed to the good of the church.

Lombardi says Francis speaks Spanish, English, German, French and Italian. He probably speaks some Portuguese, and he will brush up on it before the World Youth Day in Rio later this year.

Back to the Vatican press conference.

On Wednesday, the pope will meet Christian delegations and perhaps other delegations coming for his installation mass, the Vatican spokesman says.

The choice of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as pope evidently surprised many – perhaps most of all the Italian Bishops' Conference, who sent an email to reporters 10 minutes after the new Pope Francis had been named thanking God that their own Angelo Scola of Milan had been appointed to the top job. Except of course he hadn't. They backtracked half an hour later with an email congratulating Bergoglio. 

Tomorrow Francis will hold meetings with the cardinals, and on Saturday he will meet the media. His installation mass will be on Tuesday at 9.30am – no ticket required.

Pope Francis and the cardinals will celebrate "Mass for the Church" at the Sistine Chapel this evening. Lombardi says the mass will be Latin and the readings – Isaiah 2:2-5, 1 Peter 1:4-9 and Matthew 16:13-19 – in Italian, and the Vatican is unlikely to have the text of the homily in advance.

After the evening mass, the pope will remove the seals on the papal apartments and let workers in to retouch things slightly.

Here's the Basilica of St Mary Major.

At 8am Francis went to Rome's Basilica of St Mary Major, along with the cardinal vicar of Rome, Agostino Vallini, and Cardinal Santos Abril Castello. He left a bouquet of flowers at the altar. The pope prayed in several parts of the church, including at the altar, the Vatican spokesman says, where St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of Francis's Jesuit sect, celebrated first mass.

Lombardi confirms that the pope picked up his suitcases from Casa del Claro, where he had been staying before the conclave, paid his bill and thanked the staff – "to set a good example".

Back at Father Lombardi's press conference, the Vatican spokesman says Pope Francis will go to see his predecessor at Castel Gandolfo on the outskirts of Rome at some point - but not today, tomorrow, or within the next few days. He and Benedict have talked on the phone, however.

What will be in the new pope's in-tray? Andrew Brown looks at the key issues, including reform of the Curia (the Vatican civil service), celibacy, disaffected laity, and relations with Islam.

The pope chose the name Francis after Francis of Assisi, the spokesman confirms.

And Pope Francis took the bus back to St Martha's House with the other cardinals rather than taking the special papal car, he says.

During his meal last night, Pope Francis told the cardinals: may God forgive you for what you've done, the spokesman says.

Lombardi says that after Pope Francis accepted his election in the Sistine Chapel, he stayed standing as an "act of homage", rather than sitting, as previous popes had, the Catholic News Service reports.

He is continuing to wear the pastoral cross he had as a bishop.

He asked the cardinal vicar of Rome, Agostino Vallini, to accompany him on the balcony last night.

Lombardi says the pope's asking people to pray for him was "a very significant act".

Father Tom Rosica, another Vatican spokesman, says he should be addressed as Pope Francis, not Pope Francis I.

This is Paul, taking over from Peter ... Biblical names only on this blog.

At the Vatican, holy see spokesman Father Federico Lombardi has just started a press briefing. I'll bring you details shortly.

Lizzy Davies points me to this blogpost by Vatican watcher John Thavis, who senses that Francis might bring a good deal of his own personal stamp to the papacy:

To Vatican officials who offered him an elaborate gold pectoral cross to wear around the neck, he said he’d prefer to keep his very simple cross that he’s worn as a bishop.

After his blessing last night to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square and to the world, Vatican aides told the pope a limousine was waiting to take him to his temporary quarters in the Vatican’s residence building. The new pope said he’d rather take the bus back with the cardinals – and he did.

This morning, the pope’s first act was to leave the Vatican for an impromptu visit to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in central Rome. No doubt someone told him: “But Holy Father, we need time to plan these visits very carefully.” He wisely didn’t listen. Yes, his presence snarled traffic and caused a major stir, but the Romans loved it.

My Hispanophile colleague, Sam Jones, has found and carefully translated this lovely story from Clarín about those who remember Pope Francis from the Buenos Aires neighbourhood where he grew up. Interesting trivia: Francis "smoked like a chimney" as a young seminarian.

'He's got a very special link with this parish because he used to celebrate mass here during holy week every year - and we were expecting him back on 23 March," said Father Gabriel, a parish priest at the church of San José de Flores.

But now they'll have to wait; the new pope will have to be in Rome for holy week.

Father Gabriel, 46, insists that it was in the confessionals now under his charge that the "17-year-old Bergoglio had a divine revelation that he would enter the priesthood – and that's why he's got such a special relationship with this parish".

He added: "A lot of the poor people who come to eat in the parish dining hall have written him letters, and Bergoglio answers them by hand.

The priest describes him as "a humble and unassuming" man: "He's a very serene, very tranquil and very direct person - and a great intellectual."

As a seminarian, however, the new pope "smoked like a chimney".

The Flores neighbourhood is also home to the San Lorenzo football club, which Bergoglio follows, and which was founded by a priest.

But as a shy and studious youth, Bergoglio had little time to indulge the favourite pastime of almost every little Argentinian boy and kick a ball around the neighbourhood, according to his childhood friends.

"When Jorge was a boy, he'd play football with us in Herminia Brumana square here in Flores," said 68-year-old Osvaldo Dapueto, one of his childhood friends, whose dentist father tended the teeth of all the new pope's family.

"But after he entered the novitiate, he was always studying. He'd come by on a Saturday, see us playing, say hello and then be off."

In last night's live blog on the papal appointment we posted an extract from and a link to a 2011 comment piece by Hugh O'Shaughnessy about allegations that the the Catholic church was complicit in human rights abuses during Argentina's military dictatorship. 

The original article suggested that Argentinian journalist Horacio Verbitsky claimed that Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio connived with the Argentinian navy to hide political prisoners on an island called El Silencio during an inspection by human rights monitors. Although Verbitsky makes other allegations about Bergoglio’s complicity in human right abuses, he does not make this claim.

The original article also wrongly described El Silencio as Bergoglio’s “holiday home”. The article has now been amended and the extract removed from yesterday's live blog. Our report on the questions surrounding Bergoglio's alleged complicity in human rights abuses is here.

The highly unusual circumstance of a new pope meeting a (living) ex-pope will have to wait, according to Associated Press. While the archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, spoke of Francis's apparent desire to see Benedict today, a Vatican spokesman, the Rev Thomas Rosica, said Francis would not manage it today, although the meeting would take place in a few days.

For those wondering about Pope Francis's dash into Rome after addressing the crowds last night, no, he wasn't popping to see Dennis Rodman. Reuters has this:

From [St Peter's], he asked the driver to go to a Rome residence for priests so that he could pick up bags he left there before he moved to a guesthouse inside the Vatican for the electoral conclave - a wry reminder that he did not expect to become pope.

This, earlier, from John Hooper in Rome on the reasons for the choice of Francis as the papal name.

David Akin from Canada's Sun Media is sending Twitter updates from a press conference with two Canadian cardinals, Jean-Claude Turcotte and Thomas Collins. The latter, it seems, specialises in to-the-point answers.

Lizzy Davies passes on this link from ABC News in which the archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, working the room like an old-school comedian, recounts events following the new pope's election.

Pope Francis 'brought the house down' last night when he dined with cardinals and appeared to tell them: 'I hope you don't regret this later,' according to Dolan.

Undoubtedly the biggest character of the conclave, the American cardinal held a press conference after the announcement at which he claimed that the Argentinian had already 'won our hearts'. Dolan said that Francis had a 'beautiful sincerity and simplicity and humility' which had won them over. At dinner, he said:

'He toasted us and he simply said, 'May God forgive you,' which brought the house down. In other words, 'I hope you don’t regret this later'.'

Describing the new pope, Dolan – in many ways the polar opposite of Borgoglio in terms of style and demeanour – said: 'You heard him: he kind of comes across as shy and reserved doesn't he? His voice is kind of conversational. He doesn't have a real booming voice, but he's a man of confidence and poise ... but that's blended with a beautiful sincerity and simplicity and humility.'

Dolan said taking part in conclave was an experience he would 'never forget'.

As you'll see in this video, Francis apparently spoke of his desire to meet with Benedict today. But it was unclear whether this would happen.

China has wasted precisely no time in lobbying the new pope over the Vatican's diplomatic links with Taiwan, the island Beijing views as a renegade province. At a press briefing in Beijing, a foreign ministry spokeswoman congratulated Francis but warned that the Vatican "must stop interfering in China's internal affairs, including in the name of religion".

The spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, told reporters:

We hope that the Catholic church, under the leadership of the new pope, can work hard together with China and create beneficial conditions for improving relations.

The Vatican is the only European state to recognise Taiwan rather than mainland China, and is among fewer than two dozen around the world to do so. Relations with Beijing are not helped by China's insistence its Catholics belong to a state-sanctioned "patriotic" church, rather than swear allegiance to the pope. Many Chinese Catholics follow Rome's doctrines in underground churches.

My colleague in Rome John Hooper points out the astonishingly good contacts, in retrospect, of La Stampa's well-titled Vatican Insider, which before even midday UK time yesterday had named the then Cardinal Bergoglio as one of a handful to whom the votes seemed to be swinging.

As the next tweet shows, John himself tipped the Argentinian as a possible contender for pope ... in 2005.

Above is today's front page of the website of Argentina's Clarín newspaper. Only one story in town, it seems. Note at the bottom of the image they've picked up on the Daily Mirror's somewhat cheeky (and anachronistic) "New Hand of God" headline. For those of younger years, or still not obsessing about a football match 27 years ago, this refers to Diego Maradona's handled goal against England in the 1986 World Cup.

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There are some more photos arriving from the new pope's first post-appointment visit, his brief trip this morning to pray at the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica in Rome.

The Argentinian newspaper Clarín has, as you might expect, a wealth of pope-related news. It also has this rather nice gallery of big, high-resolution photos from last night.

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And a close up of the (very) packed crowd.

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Here's a good photo of the scene last night at the Vatican.

Heading into work and worried you don't sound sufficiently well-informed about the new spiritual leader of the globe's 1.2bn baptised Catholics? Here are some handy crib sheets:

13 key facts about the new pope, including his fondness for buses (up till now) and his one functioning lung.

Francis in his own words.

Lizzy Davies emails again to note that the new pope, as well as the Vatican press corps, have got a busy few days looming. Here she outlines his upcoming agenda:

Today: At 5pm Italian time Francis will hold a mass for the close of conclave with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel.

Tomorrow: The new pope has an audience with the college of cardinals in the Clementine Hall where Benedict said his farewell to them last month.

Saturday: The pope will meet the press at 11am. This was greeted with a round of applause in the briefing last night. Journalists can't wait. Not sure if the feeling is mutual. 

Sunday: Francis will give his first Sunday prayer, or Angelus. 

Reuters has some more details of the new pope's brief visit to Santa Maria Maggiore, which, it helpfully adds, is the oldest church in the world dedicated to the Madonna.

There, the news agency reports, Francis prayed before an icon of the Madonna called the Salus Populi Romani, or Protectress of the Roman People. It quotes Father Ludovico Melo, a priest who joined the pope in prayer:

He spoke to us cordially like a father. We were given 10 minutes' advance notice that the pope was coming.

Lizzy Davies in Rome has been tracking Francis's movements so far this morning:

Pope Francis has already been out this morning – to pray at Santa Maria Maggiore, a magnificent basilica outside the Vatican walls and a stone's throw from Rome's Termini train station. He spent around 30 minutes there, before returning to the Vatican in a chauffeur-driven car. (Long gone are the days of taking the bus, it seems.) 

It's worth noting that the new pontiff was accompanied on his trip by Georg Gaenswein, the German archbishop who is not only prefect of the papal household but also still the personal secretary of emeritus pope Benedict XVI. Upon becoming pope last night, one of the first things Francis did was to telephone his predecessor. That's certainly not been on the agenda of a new pontiff before.

Intriguingly, the Italian newspaper La Stampa reports this morning that Francis had already been out of the Vatican last night. It says he took an "immediate decision" to go out briefly into Rome. But there's no more detail on where he went or what he did.

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Let me start by pointing you towards some highlights of our current coverage:

Lizzy Davies recounts the scenes in St Peter's Square last night as the news emerged, featuring the wonderful opening line:

'Oh mamma mia! Oh la la! The light is on in the loggia! Habemus papam!' cried Sister Walburga, a polyglot nun from Germany who almost ran out of languages in her excitement as a shadow formed behind the curtain on the balcony.

Andrew Brown discusses what the unexpected choice of pope means for the Catholic church.

What we know so far about allegations surrounding the new pope's actions under Argentina's military dictatorship.

Good morning, and welcome to updates from the first day in office of Pope Francis I, whose appointment, as something of a perceived outsider, to become the first non-European pope in 1,300 years was announced last night.

The man formerly known as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina can expect non-stop scrutiny from now on – beginning with ranks of photographers snapping his every move, as the picture below shows.

Equally, he will face particularly intense examination of his past, notably what he may or may not have done during the "dirty war" era of Argentina's junta.

Your first stop for a summary of what happened and where we are now should be this lead story from John Hooper in Rome.

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