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The current and former pontiffs met Saturday at Castel Gandolfo, the summer villa where Benedict is living temporarily. Since resigning last month he is the first pope to give up the throne of the Church in 600 years.

This is also first such meeting in the church's recorded history, since a new pope is usually only elected after his predecessor's death.

Vatican officials say Francis told Benedict "we're brothers" before praying together on the same kneeler.

Beyond that, officials would not comment on what the two men discussed during their 45 minute meeting in the library, but Francis did present Benedict with a gift -- an icon of Our Lady of Humility.

In the coming weeks Benedict is expected to move from Castel Gandolfo to a converted monastery in the Vatican gardens.

As Pope Francis officially starts his papacy, a list of challenges await him both here in the U.S. and abroad especially when it comes to the issue of the church's perception. Shazia Khan filed the following report.

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Some church experts say the question of Catholic identity is one of the biggest concerns challenging the faith. A recent Pew Research Center poll found only 27 percent of U.S. Catholics consider themselves "strong" Catholics.

"For many people in the pews, that there is a disconnect between the laity and the hierarchy," said Commonweal Magazine Editor Paul Baumann.

"It isn't just a question of whether people say I am a Catholic or not a Catholic but to what degree does that Catholic identity shapes both their daily lives and the major decisions they make in the course of a lifetime," said Peter Steinfels, co-director of the Fordham University Center on Religion and Culture.

And more than just a loss of strong Catholic identity, the church in recent times has seen more and more of its Hispanic members cross faith lines.

"Some of the Hispanic attraction to evangelical and pentecostal groups is that they found something more comfortable, more culturally accessible in those forms of Christianity and the Catholic leadership has to be sensitive, has to understand, has to include in fact in its ranks a proportionate number of the new Latino population in the American church," Steinfels said.

Closer to home, there's the reconfiguration of the Curia, the Vatican's administrative body. It has taken a new importance following a report on Vatican leaks to the press and a scandal that broke and rocked the church at the start of the millennium. Also, the sex abuse crisis is ever present in spite of the enormous strides the church has made.

"There has to be a lot more candor and openness about the past as well as measures that are taken to protect young people right now," Steinfels said.

Other challenges include increasing the numbers of priests and raising the ranks of women in the church.

"Decision making in the church still remains entirely in the hands of men and in order for the faith to attract and be credible in modern age it seems to me that is something that is not sustainable," Baumann said.

The Pope began the ceremony with prayer at the Tomb of Saint Peter in the Basilica. During the ceremony, the Pope received his ring as well as the woolen pallium.

In his homily, he said even the pope must open his arms to the poor, the weak, the hungry, the stranger, the sick and those in prison. He ended by calling on people to protect all of God's creatures to pray for him.

Many world dignitaries and celebrities are in Rome to attend the installation. Vice President Joe Biden led the US delegation.

The College of Cardinals elected him to lead the Roman Catholic Church last Wednesday, replacing Pope Benedict who stepped down.

The Vatican says the pope has selected a gold-plated ring believed to have once belonged to Pope Paul VI's secretary.

His coat of arms will be the same one he used as archbishop of Buenos Aires, but with a bishop's miter and gold and silver keys - both papal symbols - added.

Tuesday's ceremony will include more than 130 government delegations, and representatives from Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, and Jain faiths.

The simplified mass is expected to last for two hours.

On Monday, the pope held a private audience with the president of his native Argentina, Cristina Fernandez.

The two had disagreed over Fernandez's implementation of policies such as mandatory sex education and free contraception.

As Pope Francis celebrated his first Sunday as Holy Father, Rochester-area Catholics gathered to pray for his papacy.

YNN's Geoff Redick visited that service and learned more about where Pope Francis might venture as the church's first Jesuit pope.

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The church building on Flower City Park sits idly by on a crisp Sunday afternoon; white and gold bunting over the Sacred Heart doorway is the only outward indication of the new leader local Catholics will follow.

"We have someone whose life has been dedicated to the serving of the Church," says Father Edward Salmon of the new Pope Francis. "He's probably going to be leading us to a deeper care and concern for the marginalized; for those who've been shoved off to the sides. He was very well-known for that simplicity."

But it may be that Pope Francis is now most well-known as the first Jesuit pope.

"Now that we have someone who comes from that Jesuit desire to be of service to the church, it's a great, great gift," says Father Salmon, who serves as president of McQuaid Jesuit High School in Rochester.

On Sunday, he also presided over the first local Mass celebrating the Jesuit Pope Francis.

The pope had already been well-documented in the first days of his papacy as the cardinal who ministered to former prostitutes, and encouraged the baptism of children born out of wedlock. Speculation has held that Pope Francis will invite more Catholics to reach out in the same manner in their own communities.

Father Edward Salmon says that strong challenge is fitting of a man in the Jesuit Order, which is nicknamed "the Marines of Christ."

"That comes because of the history of our founder St. Ignatius, who was a soldier himself. He kept some of that military approach to things."

"'We're going to go and do it. We're going to do more and we're going to do the best we can," is how Father Salmon characterizes the spirit of Jesuits. "And we're not going to give up even if we have to pay a price for it."

Father Salmon says the new pope was not an "all-star" of the Jesuit Order before being named pope, though Pope Francis is now sure to become a beacon for the Order.

Father Salmon believes Pope Francis will not reform the church through commands or rules, but rather by inviting or challenging every Catholic to do better in their own lives.