Francis starts as he means to go on — by bus

Pope Francis spent his first day as the leader of 1.2bn Catholics praying, paying his hotel bill, and catching the bus.

Much has been made of the 76-year-old’s humility and modesty, previously winning praise for eschewing the trappings of office for a frugal life in Buenos Aires, where he was archbishop.

The break from his predecessor Benedict XVI’s pontificate was evident even in Francis’s wardrobe choices — he kept the simple iron pectoral cross of his days as bishop and eschewed the red cape that Benedict wore when he was presented to the world for the first time in 2005 — choosing instead the simple white cassock of the papacy.

Yesterday, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio began his new life as he means to go on.

Before celebrating Mass at the Sistine Chapel — where only 24 hours earlier his life changed dramatically upon election — he enjoyed an unannounced early morning visit to a Roman basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary and prayed before a Byzantine icon of the Madonna and infant Jesus.

He then crossed the road to greet schoolchildren and commuters travelling to work.

Later, the immigrant railway worker’s son stopped by a Vatican-owned priests’ residence in Piazza Navona to collect his luggage — a task he could have arranged for somebody else to do but chose not to.

Pope Francis, who initially wanted to become a chemist, was driven in an unremarkable car — not the papal vehicle — and asked if he needed to pay the bill, it was reported.

In the hours after his historic election, he also shunned the special car that was to ferry him to meet the cardinals.

Instead, Pope Francis chose to travel on a bus with the cardinals. And when he arrived he refused an elevated platform from which he was supposed to meet them.

“He met with us on our own level,” said US Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

The main item on the Pope’s agenda was celebrating his inaugural Mass in the Sistine Chapel where he was elected in an unusually quick conclave on Wednesday.

The Pope is expected to be officially installed on Tuesday and will meet his predecessor Benedict XVI soon.