Pope Francis stops for prayer at Rome basilica

Pope Francis stopped into a Rome Basilica today for private prayer on his first full day as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church following his historic election.

Pope Francis stopped into a Rome Basilica on Thursday for private prayer on his first full day as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church following his historic election.

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The 76-year-old Argentine pope spent about half an hour at Santa Maria Maggiore, one of Rome's "big four" basilicas.

He was accompanied by around a dozen people including Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, who is both head of the papal household and the personal secretary of Francis's predecessor Benedict XVI.

On Wednesday Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, called for "fraternity" among the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.