Pope Francis ready to turf out corruption in the Vatican

Pope Francis has put the Vatican hierarchy on notice of sweeping changes as he prepares this week to study a secret report into skulduggery and intrigue within the Roman Catholic Church's dysfunctional governing body.

The "Vatileaks" scandal of last year, in which Benedict XVI's butler was caught stealing and leaking documents to the press, revealed infighting, nepotism and alleged corruption within the Curia, the Church's governing body.

On Saturday, the Pope ruled that senior administrators in the Vatican bureaucracy will temporarily keep their posts while he studies what changes may be required.

Hopes for sweeping reforms of the Curia were bolstered by the language of an announcement that its members would "provisionally stay in their respective posts until it is decided otherwise".

"The Holy Father, wants, in fact, to give himself a certain amount of time for reflection, prayer and dialogue before any appointments or definitive confirmations," the Vatican said.

Benedict XVI, the Pope Emeritus, commissioned three senior cardinals to investigate the Vatileaks affair, amid suspicions that Paolo Gabriele, the butler, did not act alone in trying to expose what he called "evil and corruption" within the administration of the Holy See.

The cardinals presented the full version of their report to Benedict in December, and he handed it over to his successor when he resigned at the end of last month. Pope Francis was urged to act quickly on reforming the Curia by Claudio Hummes, a Brazilian cardinal whom he counts as an old friend.

"Reform should begin with choosing the right people for the orientation of the Church that the Pope wants - a missionary Church with more dialogue," Cardinal Hummes, the archbishop emeritus of Sao Paulo, said. "Many cardinals expect to see reform of the Curia and I'm quite sure that Francis will do it."

The new Pontiff received a rock star welcome yesterday when he addressed an estimated 150,000 people in St Peter's Square for his first Angelus prayer, which takes place each Sunday at noon.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who surprised the world with his election as pontiff last week, delighted the crowds with his first words - "Brothers and sisters, buongiorno!" - and his last, when he said: "Have a good Sunday and a great lunch."

Shortly after the address, Pope Francis issued his first tweet. "Dear friends, I thank you from my heart and ask you to continue to pray for me," he wrote.

The Twitter account, created for Benedict late last year, had been dormant since his resignation on Feb 28.

The first pope to come from beyond Europe in 1,300 years, and the first Jesuit pontiff, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires told the packed piazza that he had chosen to call himself after St Francis of Assisi because of his "spiritual ties with this land".

He spoke from the same window in the Apostolic Palace from which his successor Benedict XVI used to give his weekly addresses. As soon as he appeared, the crowds erupted into thunderous applause. Among them were nuns in black habits, Irish tourists celebrating St Patrick's Day, British visitors wrapped in Union Flags, Rome marathon runners, and Argentines waving their nation's blue and white flag.

Lucas Fagandini, 24, had travelled from Cordoba, Argentina, with 20 friends, all newly qualified engineers, to see the Pope. He said: "It feels like he's different, the way he talks, it is making people go back to church."

Vincent Mesiano, from Rome, said: "We are really happy with Papa Francesco. He was friendly and simple, nearer to the people."

Francis will be officially installed as Pope at a special Mass tomorrow, with heads of state and royalty expected to attend from around the world.