Pope vows to ‘embrace poorest’ at grand inauguration

Pope Francis knelt at the tomb of St Peter and donned the symbols of papal power at a sumptuous inauguration on Tuesday, vowing to embrace the “poorest, the weakest” of humanity.

Nearly 200,000 pilgrims cheered Latin America’s first pontiff in St Peter’s Square, waving flags from around the world as the newly elected pope promised that his would be a “lowly, concrete and faithful” papacy.

In an address strongly influenced by the teachings of St Francis of Assisi, the saint he has chosen as his inspiration, he urged world economic and political leaders not to “allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world!”

His voice raised in emotion, the 76-year-old Francis said a pope must “embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important.”

“Amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope,” said the Argentinian, after touring a sun-drenched St Peter’s Square in an open-top car to cries of “Long live the pope!”