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Just got the news: The Conclave has elected Argentinian Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, to be the CCLXVI Pontifex Maximus of the Catholic Church! He has taken the name of Francis I, most likely in honour of Saint Francis of Assissi.
It's a pretty historical election as well:
-He's the first non-European Pope in 1,200 years.
-He's the first American Pope.
-He's the first Jesuit Pope (so technically we can speak of a Black Pope, hah!)
-He's the first Spanish-speaking Pope in 500 years.
-He's the first Pope to take the name of Francis (Franciscus).
As a Catholic I'm pretty happy with the election. Cardinal Bergoglio is well-known for his keen interest in helping the poor, his simplicity, his humility, his acute theology, and his criticism of the dehumanizing routes modern economical and social models can take. He's pretty adamantly against homosexual marriage, however, so that might cause some controversy.
As a Latin American, I'm ecstatic. We've been waiting for a Latin American Pope for as long as I can remember, our continent being home to 40% of all the Catholics in the world. I'm glad our particular culture and way of seeing things and understanding Christ will have a chance to assist and enrich the Universal Church.
And finally, as a Chilean, I'm proud to see a fellow Argentinian brother on the Throne of Saint Peter, one that underwent his Jesuit formation here in Chile interestingly.
Thought I'd share the news.
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Some more interesting facts about Franciscus I:
-Only has one lung. He lost the other one 50 years ago due to an infection.
-He's the son of an Italian railworker who migrated to Argentina in the early XX century.
-He's a Chemist by profession. Also has a master's degree in Chemistry.
-Avoids living in the Archbishop's Palace of Buenos Aires. Instead, lives in a tiny flat.
-He has asked his fellow countrymen not to travel to Rome to celebrate the election and instead give the money to the poor.
-There are rumours that say he might have been the second place in the last papal election in 2005.
-He's in favour of the use of condoms.
-He's openly critic about priests who refuse to baptise the children of unmarried couples.
-He is very vocal about direct priestly activity in the assistance of the poor and heavily criticises "stay-at-home" clerics.
Franciscus I Coat of Arms (that was fast).
I guess the Jesuits are really happy about being featured in the Papal Coat of Arms for the first time in history.
The Jesuits are calling the shots again. Heaven help us. Time to pull out my copy of Shougun.
A Jesuit. Good-bye free speech, hello censorship .
A Jesuit. Good-bye free speech, hello censorship .
Isn't that a bit of an overreaction? It's not like the Pope wields any actual temporal power any more.
He's very anti-gay; he challenged the Argentine government when they wanted to allow same sex marriage.
He opposes the adoption of children by gay/lesbian couples.
He opposes abortion and euthanasia.
He is against women in the priesthood.
He is a Latin American Benedict. No real change expected.
Carpe puerulus!
A Jesuit. Good-bye free speech, hello censorship .
How, exactly, could the Pope restrict free speech in any substantial fashion?
You don't think so? Get real.
If he goes pro condom I'll be happy. That would save a lot of lives.
He could probably hang around for, oh, twenty years or so. Popes aren't exactly young and sprightly when they take their post.
Unfortunately, as long as old conservative men do the voting, the result is going to be an old conservative pope. You would need to change the demographics of the cardinals before you can change the type of pope you get. But since the pope appoints the cardinals that would require a more liberal pope... which would require a more liberal group of cardinals... Which would require a more liberal pope... Which would require...
Catch 22.
Greg
You mean there is a reason why the Vatican is excessively conservative???
So, a few things to hope for, and a few things to be disappointed in.
That alone is a step above the last one, who only offered things to be disappointed in when he took the job.
While true, my concern is that helping the poor is not a new idea. It's just a good idea. The papacy is stuck in a medieval mindset which has no hope of changing in the next millennium.
There are modern problems which require modern solutions. It's one of the main reasons I no longer consider myself catholic. (Along with the whole "does god really exist?" thing.)
Greg
He's very anti-gay; he challenged the Argentine government when they wanted to allow same sex marriage.
He opposes the adoption of children by gay/lesbian couples.
He opposes abortion and euthanasia.
He is against women in the priesthood.
He is a Latin American Benedict. No real change expected.
Carpe puerulus!
Meet the new boss...same as the old boss.
Well, I'm sure it'll change in the next millennium. It certainly changed in the last one. It'll just lag a bit.While true, my concern is that helping the poor is not a new idea. It's just a good idea. The papacy is stuck in a medieval mindset which has no hope of changing in the next millennium.
There are modern problems which require modern solutions. It's one of the main reasons I no longer consider myself catholic. (Along with the whole "does god really exist?" thing.)
Greg
Ok fair enough. Millennium was a stretch. But the papacy is about 500 years behind having only just apologized for how they treated Galileo. So, next "half-millennium" maybe?
Greg
Hope he isn't like one of those future Jesuit popes, eg Lenar Hoyt
If the jesuits have taken the pope post, it's very unlikely they let it go. It's also pretty clear that there was a reason the last pope resigned - white smoke the first day means there was a consensus before the election. Note that now both the pope and the Great and Illustrious Leader of the EU, Herman van Rompuy, are jesuits.
Hmmm... I remember the last one as a pretty long process. I was wrong. Still, a jesuit pope might not be the best idea. Ah well, I am not a catholic myself, it's their problem. I am just afraid it might become my problem in some way.
Heh. We'll see.
Feel free.
If the jesuits have taken the pope post, it's very unlikely they let it go. It's also pretty clear that there was a reason the last pope resigned - white smoke the first day means there was a consensus before the election. Note that now both the pope and the Great and Illustrious Leader of the EU, Herman van Rompuy, are jesuits.
Actually, both Blessed John Paul II and Benedict XVI were elected faster than Pope Francis. There have been several other instances of even quicker elections. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the speed in this case.
The reason this election might seem quicker is that the Conclave began sooner. There were two reasons for this: On one hand, since Benedict XVI resigned, the mandatory 15 day mourning period (during which no Conclave may be held) did not apply. On the other, we're very close to Easter, and everyone agreed the Church needed a Pope before that date (to the best of my recollection, there has never been an Easter without a Pope). So the Conclave started earlier than usual (though it has not been the earliest either), but lasted longer than the previous two.
As for the Jesuits, I suppose I have a very different view of them. They are the scientists and educators of the Church (I mean, the current Pope is a Masters in Chemistry), and their insitutions regularly rank among the best. They spearheded the Counter-reformation, and since then have always been promoters of ecumenism, free thought, and openess. They are also well-known for eschewing excessive ostentasiousness and having a keen interest for working in the poorest areas of the world. They were the first Christians to open formal relationships with the Orient; they created the first translations of Chinese and Japanese; there is even a ceremonial tomb in China dedicated to the Jesuit advisor of the Chinese Emperor.
Even though I tend to avoid using terms like "Conservative" and "Liberal" when speaking of the Church, since they get confusing when you consider the whole weight of the word, Jesuits have always been seen as leaning to the left.
While not a Jesuit myself (though the Society of Jesus was my target during the time I considered taking the cloth), I am very happy to see a black robe in charge of the Church. I think he'll have the drive to push for some much-needed changes (plus the fact that he's detached from internal political machinations in the Italian Curia might prove a big boon).
Conspiracy theorists always make things more entertaining. As long as they don't start quoting from Dan Brown novels, things are just dandy.
You don't think so? Get real.
No, seriously, I want to know how he could even be remotely capable of such a thing.
Unfortunately, as long as old conservative men do the voting, the result is going to be an old conservative pope. You would need to change the demographics of the cardinals before you can change the type of pope you get. But since the pope appoints the cardinals that would require a more liberal pope... which would require a more liberal group of cardinals... Which would require a more liberal pope... Which would require...
Catch 22.
Greg
May actually be worse than that. You can hit a process similar to evaporative cooling: its how romans made ice in the desert.
Temperature is an average of the temperature of every single molecule in a batch. If the hotter molecules are allowed to leave, whats left is a much colder whole.
If an organization becomes so conservative that the liberal people leave, you're left with a far more conservative organization to perpetuate itself. Even worse than a stalemate, it can become a negative feedback loop where you keep driving out more different views and getting more conservative until things get a little loopy.
Technically, the Holy Father is just Francis. He will not be Francis I until there is a Francis II.
Just got the news: The Conclave has elected Argentinian Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, to be the CCLXVI Pontifex Maximus of the Catholic Church! He has taken the name of Francis I, most likely in honour of Saint Francis of Assissi.
It's a pretty historical election as well:
-He's the first non-European Pope in 1,200 years.
-He's the first American Pope.
-He's the first Jesuit Pope (so technically we can speak of a Black Pope, hah!)
-He's the first Spanish-speaking Pope in 500 years.
-He's the first Pope to take the name of Francis (Franciscus).As a Catholic I'm pretty happy with the election. Cardinal Bergoglio is well-known for his keen interest in helping the poor, his simplicity, his humility, his acute theology, and his criticism of the dehumanizing routes modern economical and social models can take. He's pretty adamantly against homosexual marriage, however, so that might cause some controversy.
As a Latin American, I'm ecstatic. We've been waiting for a Latin American Pope for as long as I can remember, our continent being home to 40% of all the Catholics in the world. I'm glad our particular culture and way of seeing things and understanding Christ will have a chance to assist and enrich the Universal Church.
And finally, as a Chilean, I'm proud to see a fellow Argentinian brother on the Throne of Saint Peter, one that underwent his Jesuit formation here in Chile interestingly.
Thought I'd share the news.
Blessed JP II and Benedict both spoke Spanish. He is the first native Spanish speaker since I believe Alexander VI.
May actually be worse than that. You can hit a process similar to evaporative cooling: its how romans made ice in the desert.
Temperature is an average of the temperature of every single molecule in a batch. If the hotter molecules are allowed to leave, whats left is a much colder whole.
If an organization becomes so conservative that the liberal people leave, you're left with a far more conservative organization to perpetuate itself. Even worse than a stalemate, it can become a negative feedback loop where you keep driving out more different views and getting more conservative until things get a little loopy.
This likely applies to the church at large, but I think the college of cardinals is about as conservative as it gets. I'd really like someone to name an active cardinal who has a liberal viewpoint on contraception, gay rights, and on women and married people in the priesthood. (I won't even ask for women's choice, 'cause I know that's a non-starter, but that'd be great too.) If there was just one cardinal who held a more progressive view of those topics I'd think there was hope for the church but I'm not holding my breath.
Edit: I'd even consider it a minor victory if it was an "or" not an "and" between each of those. But even there I think we're batting .000.
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Now I want to meet the Pope just to say "Lighten up, Francis."
Some extra bits:
-Pope Francis has finally determined the episcopal motto of his pontificate to be "Miserando Atque Eligendo", meaning "He saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him". Apparently, it by a homily regarding Saint Matthew given by Saint Bede the Venerable.
-He has avoided using the traditional "Eminence" title when refering to the Cardinals, using instead "Brothers". Vaticanists agree the gesture is meant to convey an intention to work on a much closer level with the rest of the Curia.
-After he was elected, Pope Francis took the bus back to the hospice he was staying at in order to pay the bill. Much to the amusment of everyone, considering the hospice is owned by the Church and thus now directly controlled by the Pope.
Blessed JP II and Benedict both spoke Spanish. He is the first native Spanish speaker since I believe Alexander VI.
Oh, yes, sorry, I meant to say the "First native Spanish-speaking pope in 500 years". Thanks for the correction.
You are welcome!
I for one am very impressed with the newly installed Pontiff. I believe that he, like Blessed John XXIII, will shake up the Church in ways that are sorely needed.