( CNN ) -- You could see it in his eyes . Even before Pope Francis spoke his first words to the throngs in St. Peter 's Square , you could look into his eyes and sense the wonder . The world was looking at him . But he was looking at something , too : at all those upturned faces . At all the eyes staring back at him . Nothing can possibly prepare a person for such a sight . In this life , there are moments , and then there are Moments . The first appearance of a new pope on the balcony of St. Peter 's Basilica has always been a Moment like no other . Before there was telegraphy , before there was radio , before there was television , before there was the Internet , before there was Twitter , the vision -- the solemn orchestration -- of a newly elected pope stepping onto the balcony was the most dramatic possible way of bringing huge news to the world . It somehow still is . Opinion : Francis , open up the church . `` I would like to thank you for your embrace , '' the new pope said , gazing out at all those eyes . When authors and orators have searched for ways to express the ultimate example of reverential exaltation , the periodically repeated scene in St. Peter 's Square , down through the centuries , has often been the one they have turned to . Tom Wolfe , in his book `` The Right Stuff , '' about the original Mercury astronauts , wanted to describe for readers just what level of devotion the newly named astronauts had received from the American people . The seven pilots had been just that -- fighter pilots , test pilots -- before being selected for the space program . Suddenly , they were something else . People would see them and begin crying . Wolfe came up with the one ideal analogy to portray the phenomenon : . `` The boys would n't have minded the following . They would n't have minded appearing once a year on a balcony over a huge square in which half the world is assembled . They wave . The world roars its approval , its applause , and breaks into a thirty-minute storm of cheers and tears . ... A little adulation on the order of the Pope 's ; that 's all the True Brothers at the top of the pyramid really wanted . '' Opinion : Pope Francis , humble , authentic and credible . But humility is not required of fighter pilots and astronauts . Nor is it required of rock stars or professional athletes or any of the many other public performers , in disparate venues , who are regularly introduced with carefully planned and marketed majesty designed to elevate them in the eyes of their audiences . A pope is different , and his introduction to the world is like no other . When Wednesday morning dawned in Rome , a man named Jorge Mario Bergoglio was one of millions of people preparing to commence the new day . By the time the day was over , he was no longer Jorge Mario Bergoglio , and he was no longer one of millions . As Pope Francis , he stepped onto that balcony and was greeted by that sight . From behind his eyeglasses , he took it all in . The eyes of the world met his . He asked for prayers . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene .
Richard Greene : Before radio , TV , pope 's appearance was most dramatic way to announce news . New pope 's appearance on the balcony of St. Peter 's is a moment like no other , he said . Greene : You could see the impact of the moment in the pope 's eyes .