VATICAN CITY - More than 6.6 million people attended events with
Pope Francis at the Vatican from his election in March to the end of
2013, figures released on Thursday showed, compared to 2.3 million for
former Pope Benedict in all of 2012.
The Vatican
said the figures were based on the number of tickets issued for papal
events where they are needed, such as general audiences, Masses and
private audiences.
They were also based on
estimates of the number of people at events where tickets are not
needed, such as his weekly appearance from a window overlooking St.
Peter's Square.
The Vatican did not issue
comparative figures on Thursday but figures released on Jan. 4, 2013
showed that some 2.3 million people attended all events presided by
Benedict in 2012.
Benedict, citing health
reasons, resigned on Feb. 28, 2013, becoming the first pope in 600 years
to do so rather than ruling for life. He is now known as Pope Emeritus.
Figures released last month which were limited to the number of people
who attended weekly general audiences showed that Francis had drawn
around four times as many people in about nine-and-a-half months of 2013
than Benedict had in all of 2012. Francis was elected on March 13,
2013.
Francis, who last month was named Person
of the Year by Time Magazine, has drawn people to the Vatican because of
his outgoing, simple and friendly style. Benedict was more reserved and
far less spontaneous.
The first non-European
pope in 1,300 years, he took over an institution rocked by sex abuse and
other scandals, and losing faithful to other religions.
Reinvigorating the church, he has forsaken many of the trappings used
by his predecessors. He gave up the spacious papal apartments in the
Apostolic Palace for a small apartment in a guest house and is driven in
a regular car instead of the papal limousine.
Francis has also proven to be popular because of his statements urging
the Church to be closer to the poor and to be more merciful and less
condemning.
The Vatican said the figures
released on Thursday did not include the crowds that turned out to see
the pope during his trips to Brazil, and to Assisi and Lampedusa in
Italy.
More than 3 million people attended the pope's final event of the Brazil trip on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on July 28.
The crowds at Francis' general audiences and Sunday addresses have
often topped 100,000, forcing police to close off the boulevard leading
to the Vatican to accommodate more people.
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