Pope Francis began his first Sunday as pontiff by making an impromptu appearance to the public from a side gate of the Vatican, startling passersby and prompting cheers.
He then kept up his simple, spontaneous style by delivering a brief, off-the-cuff homily at the Vatican's tiny parish church. Dressed only in white cassock, Francis waved to the crowd in the street outside St. Anna's Gate, and before entering the church, which serves Vatican City State's hundreds of residents, he shook the hands of the parishioners and kissed babies.