Their wedding had to be delayed for Charles to attend the funeral of the previous pontiff, Pope John Paul II.
In his first public act as pontiff, Pope Francis broke with tradition by asking the estimated 150, 000 people packed into St.
In his final extraordinary act as pontiff, Pope Benedict may have taught the world more about genuine leadership than in his many years of service to the church.
The two-hour-long, early evening installation ceremony was a significant one for the church, since a pope is pontiff because he is elected bishop of Rome, and not vice versa.
But resignation is extremely rare: the last pontiff to step aside was Pope Gregory XII, who resigned in 1415 amid a schism within the Church.
The brother of the German-born Pope said the pontiff had been advised by his doctor not to take any more transatlantic trips and had been considering stepping down for months.
Pontiff from 1939 to 1958, Pope Pius is widely accused of failing to speak out during and after the Holocaust.
He planned to present a small plaque to the pope and tell the pontiff how he would not be alive today without Blessed Kateri's help.
The BBC's David Willey , travelling with the Pope, said the pontiff, who turns 83 this month, seemed invigorated by the presence of so many enthusiastic young people.
Cardinals from around the globe have been summoned to Rome to take part in the process of choosing the next pontiff, after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI last week.
Fourteen years earlier, a much different Fidel Castro greeted a much different pontiff when thousands were introduced to Pope John Paul II, who made the historic first papal trip to Cuba in 1998.
Pope Francis is the first pontiff from Latin America, where four in 10 Catholics live.
He will have a say in who succeeds Pope Benedict XVI when the pontiff stands down on 28 February.
But before the account could reach 8, 000 followers, the world was greeting Pope Francis, the first pontiff from South America.
There are several papal contenders in the wings, but no obvious front-runner as was the case when Benedict was elected pontiff in 2005 after the death of Pope John Paul II.
Pope Francis, the new Argentinian pontiff, shyly waved to the crowd in St.
With the words "Habemus Papam" or "We have a pope" the pontiff then appears on the balcony of St.
Pope Paul VI was the first pontiff to visit Israel, in 1964.
He chose to leave the Vatican immediately after his resignation to physically remove himself from the process of electing his successor and from Pope Francis' first weeks as pontiff.
Asked about the selection of the next pontiff, a third said they want a pope who is more liberal, while just 4 percent said they want someone more conservative.
"Sadly, this God-given role of the dignity of women has not always been understood and esteemed, " the pontiff said on his first visit to Jordan as pope.
Benedict - now Pope emeritus Benedict - became the first pontiff in 600 years to abdicate last month when he said his age, 85, and health meant he could no longer continue in the job.
The present and past pope, who retired last month as pontiff in a 600-year break with tradition, met on Saturday at the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo, where Benedict is staying until a former convent on the grounds of Vatican City can be readied for his residence.
Though Benedict left the rules greatly untouched, experts on the Church's constitution will comb through the section on the "Vacancy of the Apostolic See and the Election of the Roman Pontiff" (how to elect a new pope when the office is vacant) and interpret proper protocol for the election.
Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is elected pope and he is the first pontiff from the Americas.
Earlier the pontiff's brother, Georg Ratzinger, said the Pope had been advised by his doctor not to take any more transatlantic trips and had been considering stepping down for months.
But the conclave is likely to come between 15 and 20 days after the pontiff steps down, he said, and a new pope will be in place before Easter is celebrated at the end of March.
Father Lombardi also further described Pope Benedict's final 48 hours as pontiff: On Tuesday, he was packing, arranging for documents to be sent to the various archives at the Vatican and separating out the personal papers he will take with him into retirement.
With a red carpet rolled out to meet the pope's airplane, Castro walked beside the pontiff to a pair of large wooden chairs.
Canonical law requires that a pontiff freely and consciously agree to resign points that Pope Benedict underscored while delivering his announcement in Latin at a consistory on Monday.
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