Pope Francis has marked the first anniversary of his election as head of the Catholic Church with a tweet from his retreat outside the Vatican.<br /><br />“Pray for me” was the message the pontiff sent out in nine languages to his more than 12 million followers.<br /><br />If you are a Latin lover, the literary kind, it was “Orate pro me”.<br /><br />Tributes have been pouring in from all over the world but Francis is unlikely to have seen any of them.<br /><br />He and his top aides are spending the week in the relatively simple building of a religious institution in the town of Ariccia, in the Alban Hills about 24 km away from the Vatican’s frescoed halls.<br /><br />Outside the Vatican, many visitors were eager to share their memories of his first year in office.<br /><br />“The gesture that struck me most was when he went to prison to wash the prisoners’ feet,” said one tourist.<br /><br />“After one year I think the door is wide open finally, I’m crossing my fingers that it keeps going as wonderfully. I think he’s got it right,” added one woman from the United States.<br /><br />Sentiments shared by an Argentine tourist in St Peter’s Square: “Now the Vatican is in contact with the poor, with those who most need it, and not with wealth and luxury, as I think it has been up to now”<br /><br />The pope’s first anniversary is not being celebrated at the Vatican, another sign supporters of the South American say that this pope is unafraid to change age-old conventions.
