Pope marks first year in office

 

Pope Francis travelled by bus to spend the first 

anniversary of his election in a spiritual retreat

Pope Francis is celebrating his first year in office.

The Argentinean-born pontiff is currently on a week-long spiritual retreat with cardinals and bishops in the
Alban Hills near Rome.
Italian opinion polls give Pope Francis the highest popularity rating of any recent pontiff.
However, the BBC’s David Willey in Rome says that Francis’s papacy so far has shown a change of style rather than of substance.
Pope Francis is the first Latin American – and the first Jesuit – to lead the Roman Catholic Church.

Since taking office, pilgrims have been arriving in Rome in unprecedented numbers.

He is also riding high on social media, with 11 million following him in nine languages on Twitter.
Our correspondent says Francis’s approval rating has remained high despite a recent UN report accusing the Catholic Church of systematically covering up for tens of thousands of child-abusing priests reported to the Vatican.
The Pope himself has denounced any cult of personality.
He recently told Corriere della Sera: “Portraying the pope as a kind of superman, a type of star, it seems offensive.”