Delivering the homily of his first Mass as leader of the worlds 1.2 billion Catholics, Pope Francis ended his remarks with a call to reconstruction of the church, which he said is in danger of being like a house of sand built by children on a beach.
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It is also absolutely the case that the full enfranchisement of Latin American Catholics will necessarily be facilitated by the election of Pope Francis.
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Large majorities of Catholics and non-Catholics polled said they believe the next choice of pope matters to the world, the survey also found.
The story of the Japanese Catholics is known to the new pope.
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Where the pope may run into difficulty is with the substantial number of liberal Catholics who long to see the Vatican take a more liberal line on matters such as contraception and priestly celibacy.
Peter's Square, the pope called for a renewal of faith, and for the prayers of Catholics around the world both for him and his successor.
On Good Friday, the pope presides over the Way of the Cross - a celebration even non-Catholics can enjoy.
After all, March has been packed with various religious events from holidays observed by several different faiths to the selection of a new Pope, which garnered attention from Catholics and non-Catholics alike all over the world.
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Nationalists hope that the planned visit this summer of the pope, who is the spiritual leader for the 5m-odd Ukrainian Catholics (including 4m eastern-rite Uniates, also called Greek Catholics), will boost their cause.
Separately, of 786 non-Catholics polled, 23 percent said the choice of the next pope matters to them personally, but 76 percent said it matters to the world.
In another Manila church in the working-class district of Baclaran, Catholics said they yearned for a pope who would be able to lead the younger generation onto the right path.
For one, Pope Francis's admiration for the hidden Catholics of Japan suggests he may understand that Beijing is playing the wrong game in its attempt to co-opt and control the Church.
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Dressed in simple, white vestments rather than the golden robes and ornate miter that his predecessor donned at his inauguration eight years ago the pope presided over a shortened ceremony installing him as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
The leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, said the Pope's visit had been "better than he expected".
Liberal Catholics want the next pope to be someone of entirely fresh perspective.
Diaz and other Catholics said the presence of the first Pope from Latin America has also played a role in how world leaders view Cuba.
Two-thirds of the Catholics surveyed said the next choice of pope matters to them either a great deal or a moderate amount.
According to a survey of American Catholics by the Pew Research Center taken after Pope Benedict announced his resignation, 58% of congregants favored allowing priests to marry.
Latin Americans burst into tears and jubilation at news that the region, which counts 40 percent of the world's Catholics, finally had a pope to call its own.
Chris Patten, a Conservative politician (and co-organiser of the papal visit) is chancellor of Oxford University, an institution that Catholics avoided attending (until the pope allowed them, in 1896) even after Anglicans admitted them.
When Jorge Bergoglio stepped onto the balcony at the Vatican on Wednesday evening to reveal himself as the new leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, he made history as the first non-European pope of the modern era, the first from Latin America, the first Jesuit and the first to assume the name Francis.
Like most non-Catholics, I know who the pope is, and I am aware of the challenges of the modern church, such as its financial struggles and the clerical sex-abuse scandal.
Although many liberal Catholics were impressed by the gentleness of Benedict's style as Pope - another of his surprises - the conservative views he adopted in the aftermath of the 1960s student revolutions had a profound impact on his pontificate.
The "path of love" of Pope Francis will be a momentous journey for 1.2 billion Catholics.
The Pope has apologised to victims of abuse before and recently said sorry in a pastoral letter to Irish Catholics.
Given the political intrigues that plague the Vatican, it wasn't much of a stretch of the imagination to wonder if some cardinals, bishops and monsignors not to mention ordinary Catholics might continue making Benedict their point of reference rather than the new pope.
In his pre-Christmas message, Pope Benedict XVI rallied Catholics to oppose gay marriage by praising comments critical of gay marriage made by Gilles Bernheim, the chief rabbi of France, raising the prospect of an inter-faith alliance, according to many commentators.
The election of the first non-European Pope for more than a millennium- and the first from Latin America, home to 40% of the world's Catholics - reveals in the cardinals who elected him an awareness of the size and importance of the flock outside Europe.
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