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Pope pays hotel bill: Pope Francis paid for his hotel bill in Rome, with some suggesting it is a sign of his humility.
Pope Francis attends his first Mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on March 14, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Servizio Fotografico L'Osservatore Romano via Getty Images)
Pope Francis paid for his hotel bill after he stopped by to pick up his luggage in Rome, with reports saying it is a change from previous popes.
“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,” said Sergio Rubin, the authorized biographer for the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who was elected as the new pope on Wednesday.
“He believes the church has to go to the streets to express this closeness of the church and this accompaniment with those who are suffering,” he told The Associated Press in an interview on Thursday.
Francis is the first Jesuit pope and has spent most of his life and career in Argentina. His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, resigned in February—the first pontiff to do so in 600 years.
On his first day on Thursday, Francis held his first mass as leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
Rev. Pawel Rytel-Andrianek, who teaches at the Pontifical Holy Cross University in Rome, said that Francis did not come to the hotel to pick up his luggage, he also came to greet staff members.
“He wanted to come here because he wanted to thank the personnel, people who work in this house,” he told Fox News, adding that the pope met with dining room staff. “He greeted them one by one, no rush, the whole staff, one by one,” Rytel-Andrianek added.
“People say that he never in these 20 years asked for a (Vatican) car,” he continued. “Even when he went for the conclave with a priest from his diocese, he just walked out to the main road, he picked up a taxi and went to the conclave. So very simple for a future pope.”
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