In a gesture to Christians in the East, the pope prayed with Eastern rite Catholic patriarchs and archbishops before the tomb of St. Peter at the start of the Mass and the Gospel was chanted in Greek rather than the traditional Latin. – Fox News

At the Papal installation of Pope Francis yesterday, for what may be the first time in history, the gospel was read in Greek rather than in the traditional Latin. This looks like another sign of biblical prophecy, because I could not locate another time during the inauguration of any Pope that at Mass, the gospel was chanted in Greek rather than in Latin.

It is well known that the New Testament was written in Greek and during the installation of Pope Francis, the readings were taken from those assigned to the feast day of the Solemnity of St. Joseph which is the highest ranking of any feast in the Catholic liturgical calendar. Saint Joseph, the son of David and seed of Abraham our father, is the “foster-father” of Jesus and the Patron of the Universal Church, who in end days it is said in 2 Samuel 7:4-5a,12-14a,16 that God’s covenant promise to David that his son would be given an everlasting kingdom. I believe that Joseph was of Greek decent as well.

The coat of arms for Pope Francis contains the yellow flower of Nard, symbol of St Joseph, and a yellow star, symbol of Madonna.

Pope Francis opens ministry with inaugural Mass, urges crowds to protect poor, weak;

In the VIP section was German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, the Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, Taiwanese President Ying-Jeou Ma, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, Prince Albert of Monaco and Bahrain Prince Sheik Abdullah bin Haman bin Isa Alkhalifa, among others. All told, six sovereign rulers, 31 heads of state, three princes and 11 heads of government were attending, the Vatican said.

Francis directed his homily to them, saying: “I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be protectors of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.”

Among the religious VIPs attending was the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Bartholomew I, who became the first patriarch from the Istanbul-based church to attend a papal investiture since the two branches of Christianity split nearly 1,000 years ago. Also attending for the first time was the chief rabbi of Rome. Their presence underscores the broad hopes for ecumenical and interfaith dialogue in this new papacy given Francis’ own work for improved relations and St. Francis of Assisi.

In a gesture to Christians in the East, the pope prayed with Eastern rite Catholic patriarchs and archbishops before the tomb of St. Peter at the start of the Mass and the Gospel was chanted in Greek rather than the traditional Latin.

 

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