joseph, the hope we bring is set against the horizon of god, which has opened up before us in christ. it is a hope built on the rock, which is god. to protect jesus and mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves, this is a service that the bishop of rome is called to carry out yet one to which all of us are called. so that the star of hope will shine brightly. let us protect with love all that god has given us. i employ the intersection of the virgin mary, st. josephs, st. peter and paul and francis, that the holy spirit may accompany my

ministry and i ask all of you to pray for me, amen. >> and a very simple homily, in its simplicity, speaking of protection, repeatedly talking about the role of protection, speaking about hope. speaking about power as service. this pope has sent a very powerful message in his simplicity. one that lays the ground work for the kind of papacy he expects to have. the beauty of the created world, respecting god's creatures, protecting the environment, talking about the poor and the weak. showing his humility, talking about authentic power being service. and also talking about the darkness and we heard this from him before when he's booked

journalists as an audience. he spoke of call to right the wrongs. father, i think if in much the way a presidential inaugural address lays out the agenda for presidency, we have heard him laying out the agenda for the papacy. >> he's going to do it with authentic powers in service, to the people of god, do it with tenderness with a great sense of hope. the sense of hope. this is really very franciscan spiritu spirituality. it's a positive thing because god so loved us. if we never would have sinned, god would have come to us. this is what the pope is echoing here. you get an echo of john xxiii, the first pope of women of good

will. it's not just for the church and himself, but men and women. put this in practice, to love tenderly and protect the vulnerable. >> so early in a papacy we look for symbolism and meaning in the words of a pope or in the little things he does. we saw on sunday celebrating mass at a small parrish and greeting everyone as if he were a parrish priest. if there were signals in this homily, what were they? >> of john paul ii today, chris. be not afraid. in this case, be not afraid of goodness and tenderness. the idea there is a good plan inscribed in the world and in us. knowing that, we come to know our duties and our obligations to others.

the notion of protection, which father just spoke about, the church is a protector of the weak and the vulnerable. i think it's important to underscore that amist the humility and personal style, this is a man of steely determination. he's showed that in his life as the jesuit prudential in argentina. he showed it in his life as archbishop of buenos aires. one should not confuse that with weakness. he said that in the homily today. it's not weak to be good. goodness is a virtue that goodness is living the virtues in a way that strengthens all of us. i hear reformers turn throughout the whole homily. >> when you speak of that steely determination, there's an interpretation he's doing that

within the vatican departments which has had some bad publicity to say the least of its own. he did reappoint the heads. he said the pope wants to take some time. he wants to take care to pray, to reflect before making definitive appointments. a symbol he's serious about reform. >> oh, yeah. i think there's no doubt. the church, there's an old saying that the church is always reforming, always in need of reforming itself. this is a pope who is not afraid of looking at what needs to be done and doing it. i think his focus on st. joseph in this homily shows that. joseph was a man, when he heard what god wanted him to do, he did it immediately. there's an interesting structure underlying this homily. if you look carefully, it had three parts, one part dedicated

to faith, to listening to the message of god and accepting it, believing in it. another part dedicated to love or charity, to protecting to sacrificining ones the faith, hope and charity are the pillars of christian spiritu spirituality. he was able to bring it to something so practical and caring for the environment, something so week. make it a message of all the world, not just the catholics. i think it shows the depth of this man, his ability to connect. the needs of people throughout the world. >> it is one of the things, george, that so many around the world are looking for. pope benedict, without a doubt, a very intellectual man, but someone who sometimes had some difficulty connecting and who, when every day catholics read his writings found them frankly

difficult to follow unless you were more of a scholar than most of us are, george. >> this is a man -- this is a pope of great simplicity, but it's simplicity rooted in keen intelligence. don't ever think this isn't a man who's got a real grasp on the world, on the church, on the challenges facing both. i think the point you made a moment ago sounds a bit like catholic inside baseball. it's absolutely crucial. the most important decision he has made as pope is not to permanently reappoint the senior leadership but simply to give them provisional reappointments until he clears his mind as to

what is needed to give him the collaborators he requires. that was an essential first step to beginning to fix the local machinery and he made it, evidently without hesitation shows a man who know what is he's here to do and is prepared to do it without counting the cost. >> he talks about open our arms. open our arms. he wants the church to be more open to go out into the world. be less intraspecktive. >> this is the prayer of the faithful. if you follow the catholic mass, you will remember that. they ask the lord to hear our prayers. different representatives in different languages are asking different indulgences asking for prayers for their specific needs. you know, george, to that point, i think it is an important one. everything that we have seen from this pope that seems to have made him very early in this

papacy, his approachability, he wears creeky black shoes instead of the red ones. we know this is a church that loves pomp and circumstance. it loves the vestments. many catholics love it as well. but, i think not everyone is necessarily embracing that. let's listen to the pope, pope francis and get your thoughts on the other side. >> translator: receive the prayers which the church lifts up in trust through christ our lord, amen. ♪ >> the deacon entoning the prayers was from the archdiocese of sydney. >> george, i just got back yesterday. i have to believe there's a sense of nervousness around rome? if not, some folks who are down right put out by this new pope.

>> i think we all need to remember that holiness and beauty do not come in only one style. there's no uniform one size fits all expression of beauty or of holiness. we are sitting here atop this magnificent renaissance splendor, yet in the middle of it is a man of simplicity and grace. that seems to me a rather powerful combination. you don't have to, as the english say, over egg the pudding here to make clear that beauty is a path to goodness and truth in a post modern world. there's a beauty and simplicity that is going to be embodied in this. that's a style people will have to get used to. >> we saw some of the flags

waving. this is typical when ever the pope is at st. peters, whether he's coming to the window sunday or a rare occasion when he is outside for the mass. let's go down into the crowd with claudia. we were talking earlier about how the pope sent a message of people not to come, but use that money to give to the poor. how international of a crowd do you sense this to be? >> these are people from all over the world. you can see that flags that are flying down there among the hundreds of thousands packing st. pete ear's square. flags from argentina, of course. those are the most. you can see flags from the rest of the world as the delegations are from 152 countries. probably the people in there are from many, many more. as a matter of fact, these were people cheering every time he

mentioned the protection of old people, of old weeks. they feel like this is a man -- this is a pope for all people and not just for a certain few. so, people from all over the world right here in st. peter's square. they came early. as the mass was going on, i saw a mass influx of people coming in. not sure if they found it difficult to approve. probably because the city is in a gridlock. millions of them showing more people coming. we may get close to the million mark that they promised the days before. >> as the pope celebrates his first open air mass before a crowd of hundreds of thousands, we listen.

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> translator: holy father pray that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to god, the almighty father. may the lord accept your sacrifice for the good and the good of the holy church. we pray, oh, lord, just as st.

joseph cared, your loving son born of the virgin mary so we are able to administer through cloudy skies our lord, amen. the lord be with you and with your spirit. lift up your hearts. lift them up to the lord. let us give thanks to the lord our god. it is right and just. it is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation to give thanks, lord, holy father, almighty and eternal god. st. joseph to give you praise to glorify you and bless you. for this just man was given by you as spouse to the virgin mother of god and set as a wise and faithful servant in charge of your household.

to watch like a father over your own son who was conceived by the overshadowing of the holy spirit of our lord, jesus christ. the angels praise your majesty. powers tremble before you. heaven and the virtues of heaven worship together in exaltation. may our voices, we pray, join with theirs in humble praise as we acclaim. we now hear the choir and people sing the song of praise joined from the words of the profit isaiah and recalling jesus' triumph entrance into jerusalem. ♪

♪ ♪

♪ >> translator: through the power of the holy spirit through the words of christ the bread and wine become the body of jesus christ and we'll together listen with reference. holy father asked god to bless the gifts presented for the church and himself.

>> the college of cardinals, praise of those gathered here and all the living. >> patriarch of antioch unites our prayers of all the saints, especially this day with joseph, the husband of mary.

[ speaking foreign language ] >> what we are watching now is something you would never normally see, father. >> that's correct. you see there, the eastern right bishop saying mass with the pope. it's allowed because he's the universal. normally, we cannot. because the pope is universal master, the eastern bishop is celebrating mass with the pope. normally, you would not see that. >> maria shriver joins us as well. we were watching pope francis. he looks like a parrish priest,

acts like a parrish priest, moves like one. i know you have at least one of your kids with you. i wonder your impressions. so much of this, obviously, you have two aspects to a public person, one is the policy and the other the persona. his persona seems to be being embraced. >> reporter: well, it got my 15-year-old son out of bed early and down to the square. that says something. >> that's remarkable. >> reporter: it's remarkable in and of itself. i think a parrish priest is different. he's used to dealing with people day in and day out, hearing their problems, caring for them. being at weddings and baptisms and at the side when people move on to the next life. i think this man is inspiring people with his words, with his actions, with his demeanor. i think people are very hopeful, really around the world, people you talk to here. people back in the united

states, women i know who were angry at the church says okay, maybe this man will set the record straight. maybe this man will include and be more open. maybe we can come back to a new church. i think it's exciting. >> i think, you have been there several days now, my sense of it there and coming back and talking to people just in the few hours since i returned from rome, is that people are hopeful. >> reporter: i think totally hopeful. if you listen to the words he's using, i, myself, find it hopeful. he's talking simplicity, authenticity, forgiveness and mercy saying people, you know, god never stops wanting to forgive. it's us that stop asking for forgiveness. i thought the homily was a powerful homily. about men, he talked looking at tenderness as a strong attribute of men. st. joseph as a father.

i thought you could really read this and look at what he's saying about men today. men are protectors of their families. all of us have that capability within us. he talked about power in a sense that real power is service. he talked about what power was given to st. peter and what power each and every one of us have. that is the power to serve. i think there's a lot. if you actually read through this homily we can take away in modern times and all over the world to better ourselves and to really rebuild ourselves like st. francis spoke about from the inside out. >> this is a pope who will call many to service around the world. thank you. let's listen. >> the mystery of faith. people respond. profess your resurrection until

you come. ♪ >> translator: we ask god to be pleased with and accept these offerin offerings. [ speaking foreign language ]

[ speaking foreign language ] >> the cardinal will now commemorate those who have died. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> they pray trusting in god's mercy and love, we may share in the fellowship of the saints. [ speaking foreign language ]

♪ >> pray through him, with him and in him, oh god, almighty father in unity with the holy spirit, all glory and honor is yours forever and ever. and the people respond, amen. >> at the saviors command, we

dare to say. ♪ >> our father who art in heaven, lal lowed be they anytime. >> with the our father and this open air mass, pope francis begins officially his ministry as the 266th pope of the roman cath lynn church. that's going to do it for me, chris jansing. i want to thank all our guests. we will have continuing coverage all day on msnbc.

coming up, "morning joe" starts in just minutes. most people think that after an accident, you'll have to pay five hundred bucks for your deductible. the truth? at allstate, you could pay zero. allstate gives you a hundred dollars off your deductible the day you sign up. then another hundred off every year you don't have an accident. let the good hands reward your safe driving with a deductible that goes away. ♪ deductible rewards. one more way you're in good hands with allstate. ♪ one more way you're in good hands with allstate. with an intuitive motion activated lid and seat,ad bold makes sure you'll never have to ask him again.