Source: CNN
Members of the public waited in long lines Tuesday morning to join the Mass, which was open to all. As the service began, the morning’s brilliant sunshine came to an abrupt end, with the skies letting loose thunder, lightning and a torrential downpour.
Applause echoed round St. Peter’s as Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, offered thanks for the “brilliant pontificate” of Benedict XVI, whose shock resignation precipitated the selection of a new pope.
Sodano’s homily focused on a message of love and unity, calling on all to cooperate with the new pontiff in the service of the church.