I am liking this guy -- from the Associated Press:
Pope Francis' humility: stops by hotel to pay bill
Pope Francis put his humility on display during his first day as pontiff Thursday, stopping by his hotel to pick up his luggage and pay the bill himself in a decidedly different style of papacy than his tradition-minded predecessor, who tended to stay ensconced in the frescoed halls of the Vatican.
The break from Benedict XVI's pontificate was evident even in Francis' wardrobe choices: He kept the simple pectoral cross of his days as bishop and eschewed the red cape that Benedict wore when he was presented to the world for the first time in 2005 - choosing instead the simple white cassock of the papacy.
The difference in style was a sign of Francis' belief that the Catholic Church needs to be at one with the people it serves and not imposing its message on a society that often doesn't want to hear it, Francis' authorized biographer, Sergio Rubin, said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press.
"It seems to me for now what is certain is it's a great change of style, which for us isn't a small thing," Rubin said, recalling how the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio would celebrate Masses with ex-prostitutes in Buenos Aires.
"He believes the church has to go to the streets," he said, "to express this closeness of the church and this accompaniment with the people who suffer."
Francis began his first day as pope making an early morning visit in a simple Vatican car to a Roman basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary and prayed before an icon of the Madonna.
He had told a crowd of some 100,000 people packed in rain-soaked St. Peter's Square just after his election that he intended to pray to the Madonna "that she may watch over all of Rome."
Next up -- His Holiness is having an effect on the internet. From Arizona station KTAR:
The pope dominates Go Daddy
Not even the Internet stood unaffected by the announcement of the new pope.
According to GoDaddy.com Public Relations Specialist Kari Amarosso, 479 new domains were registered in relation to the pope within the first hour of the announcement of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis I.
Strangely enough, a domain under the name of PopeFrancis.com was already registered in April 2010.
Keywords that were to identify the new domains were pope, Francis, Bergoglio, and Habemus Papam.
Minor nit -- His Holiness is not Pope Francis I, he is Pope Francis. At some point down the road, if another Pope takes the name of Francis, that Pope will be Pope Francis II.
