Excerpts from Pope Benedict XVI's message after the first Mass celebrated by him as Pontiff. The message was read in Latin to cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel for the Mass.
"I seem to feel his strong hand holding mine, I feel I can see his smiling eyes and hear his words, at this moment particularly directed at me: `Be not afraid'." (Speaking of the late Pope John Paul II).
"I too ... want to affirm with decisive willingness to follow in the commitment of carrying out the Second Vatican Council, in the wake of my predecessors and in faithful continuity with the 2,000-year-old tradition of the church."
"... His (Peter's) current successor takes as his primary task that of working - sparing no energies - to reconstitute the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers. This is his ambition, this is his pressing duty. He is aware that showing good sentiments is not enough for this. Concrete acts that enter souls and move consciences are needed."
"In the wake of his predecessors, he is fully determined to cultivate any initiative that might seem appropriate to promote contacts and understanding with representatives of different churches and ecclesial communities."
"I address everybody, even those who follow other religions or who simply look for an answer to life's fundamental questions and still haven't found it. To all, I turn with simplicity and affection, to ensure that the church wants to continue weaving an open and sincere dialogue with them, in the quest for the real good for man and society."
"I will spare no efforts and dedication to continue the promising dialogue with different civilisations that was started by my cherished predecessors, so that a better future for everybody originate from mutual comprehension."
"I am thinking especially about the youths. My affectionate thought goes to them, Pope John Paul II's privileged interlocutors, while, God willing, I wait to meet with them in Cologne on the occasion of the next World Youth Day. I will continue the dialogue with you, dear youths, future and hope of the church and mankind."