Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been selected as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church. He is described as a humble man who chose to live in a simple apartment instead of the archbishop’s palace. He is an intellectual, a champion of the poor and “social justice”, yet one who held the line against liberalizing currents among the Jesuits.
From the National Catholic Reporter
…someone who personally straddles the divide between the Jesuits and the ciellini, and more broadly, between liberals and conservatives in the church.
Bergoglio has supported the social justice ethos of Latin American Catholicism, including a robust defense of the poor.
“We live in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most yet reduced misery the least,” Bergoglio said during a gathering of Latin American bishops in 2007. “The unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to Heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers.”
At the same time, he has generally tended to accent growth in personal holiness over efforts for structural reform.
Bergoglio is seen an unwaveringly orthodox on matters of sexual morality, staunchly opposing abortion, same-sex marriage, and contraception. In 2010 he asserted that gay adoption is a form of discrimination against children, earning a public rebuke from Argentina’s President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
He is 76 years old. Congratulations to Catholics on the selection of a new leader. Let us all pray for wise and careful guidance.
Thanks Pat. The first thing I noticed was the fact that he chose to live simply. Jesus would approve 🙂 It will be interesting to see how he handles the…richness…of the Vatican!
I was so disgusted with the Los Angeles archdiocese, w Cardinal Mahoney building a *$200 Million* dollar cathedral while so many homeless people were sleeping on the streets of downtown Los Angeles, so many they blocked the doors (not intentionally) of the old St. Vibiana’s Church, abandoned to build that obscene homage to riches. I’m not a Catholic, but actions like that (among others) tend to give one a bad impression.
I’m also impressed that he’s a Jesuit yet resisted liberalization of that order. Overall, at this point it seems a very impressive choice.
Do pray for me, Argentina!
Okay there, I’ve gotten that out of the way. Wonder how many media outlets will post that headline.
Congratulations, Pope Francis I.
We’ll see – the Cardinals have a lot of power in Rome, and how many of them are amoral people? I won’t paint them all corrupt, but if the group is reflective of society and mankind, I would imagine there are some venal Cardinals.
When he bowed to the crowd and asked for prayers before he blessed us, He showed his humility. The room that they go to change in after the election is called the “Room of Tears”, I pray that the burden placed on his shoulders is eased by Jesus our brother and Mary our mother.
Amen midget.
“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” — St Augustine of Hippo
With Pope Francis as our guide, may we learn to be humble, yet strong, in the days to come.
Midget, I pray that our Heavenly Father gives his servant Francis the steel necessary to battle the forces of darkness arrayed against us all over this world. May he wear velvet gloves to administer to his flock, but keep the sword of Light and Righteousness by his side, to battle all the darkness of this world.
aren’t we tired of all these SOCIALIST popes? no wonder there’s so much misery in the third world & other places. i guess john paul was the last kinda good one
Even though I’m not a practicing Roman Catholic, I was confirmed as one. (After all the Saturday morning Catechism classes given by the Nuns at Saint Rita’s Catholic Church in Alexandria, Virginia when I was very young). Here’s my beefs:
1) The disgraceful, outragous, immoral, despicable conduct of the perverted small minority of ‘priests’ that abused children.
2) The obscene Wealth of the Church never used, to my knowledge, to help the really poor and destitute people of the planet.
3) The complete inability to punish with, total excommunication, of those professed Roman Catholic politicans that do not adhere to the tenets of the Church regarding birth control and abortion. Either they are Roman Catholics or they aren’t. Period.
posted 3/13 525pm Texas[Hail Mary!]Time
I am a fellow member of the second largest denomination in the US – ex Catholics. The amazing arrogance of the clergy in the face of a mortal flaw in their ranks invalidates them as real followers of Christ. The new Pope’s ‘social justice’ thing is the other great cancer within the Catholic church today. Wence ‘social justice’? Without money from the Catholics in Chicago there’d be no Alinsky. And, without Alinsky there’s be no hate filled socialist in the White House.
I will wait and see if the new Pope’s definition of social justice is the same as Nancy Pelosi’s. He’s not an east coast American liberal using religious language and imagery to justify their socialism.
unfortunately i think it still retains the SOCIALIST definition…social justice is a progressive, socialist term that’s got nothing to do with EQUAL JUSTICE under our constitutional system.
Sharkey, the only thing I would say is, it wasn’t Pope Francis expounding on his attachment to social justice with all the connotations associated with it in the U.S., i.e., socialist liberalism. It was the media, the MSM. Also, Pope Francis has been a strong opponent of Liberation Theology, which is socialism/communism under another name, with a covering of redefined religious language. Wait and see. This one is going to have some surprises in store for us I suspect. The MSM – what dummies. They are shocked – shocked!! – to discover that once again the new Pope is actually Catholic.
Good point.
dennis,
I attended mass at Saint Rita’s many years ago when we lived in Arlandria. Your Texas beefs are legit especially #3 … hopefully Pope Francis cleans house starting with Pelosi, Biden and other Kennedy type so-called Catholics.
Here’s our answer to Beef #3.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/03/13/Francis-no-communion-abortion
(Arlandra!…Where my home away from home, The Vernon Theater, was located…I saw so many, many movies there! H.L.Greens and Peoples Drugstore too!)
posted 3/13 1000pm Texas[Russell Road]Time
Tammy, the Pope’s personal apartment and living space, and personal lifestyle are most often extremely simple. At least in the modern centuries, it certainly was not always the case in the past, when the church was more of a temporal power on a level of kings and princes. It’s true the apartments are in the center of some of the most amazing art, architecture, sculpture, artifacts, gardens in the world. I’m a lifelong Catholic, I would spit on the ground at Mahoney’s feet if I met the man. I don’t consider him a Catholic, no matter what he’s dressed in or where he lives or what title he carries. He did his best to get ownership of the EWTN network and oust Mother Angelica. No luck there, too bad, so sad. Mother whupped him, I loved it.
A South American Jesuit, amazing! wonderful! And the name he chose, amazing also. The media talking heads are mentioning Francis of Assisi. They need to look up Francis Xavier – one of the original six Jesuits under Ignatius of Loyola. Francis of Assisi – poverty, humility, ministry to the poor, reformation of the Church. Francis Xavier – evangelization, obedience, poverty, humility. The Jesuit order is organized as a military group. Their founder was a professional soldier. My initial impression of the new pontiff was that he was stunned to be the Fisherman’s shoes; humble; perhaps a little shy. Bet he has a steel backbone.
Love your post MV. Also lifelong catholic & happy to be. Didn’t know that about ewtn, & I’m not low-info type, wow. I have a good feeling about pope Francis, dunno why. The joke around here is > oh look, a non catholic can be Pope! (Jesuit)
I can’t believe they didn’t choose Obama as the new Pope. It just proves that racism is alive and well in the Catholic Church. /sarc
Well, you know that some pundit will say something to that effect when analyzing the selection.
From The Times of Israel:
New pope has history of good relations with Jewish community; rabbi calls him a ‘warm and sweet and modest man’
http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-pope-has-jewish-connections/
A Jesuit Pope raises a red flag with me *** pun intended ***. I hope I’m wrong and he doesn’t become the David Souter of Popes.
Pray.
Take heart, Chuck. Francis is 76, not 46: old school, baby. The office itself has a way of changing the office holders. History demonstrates that repeatedly. The really bad Popes accomplished nothing of consequence. They had no desire to, being consumed with the pursuit of wealth, temporal power, and the pleasures of the flesh; or were resisted and neutralized. We shall see how it all unfolds, it will be fascinating to watch.
Tammy, glad you recalled that Francis was the Saint associated with animals. When you see a monk-type statue in a garden, or saint imaged with animals around him, that is St Francis. also, Francis of Assisi had a sister, St Clare of Assisi, who is a Doctor of the Church, which is (knew you’d ask 🙂
This is a very special title accorded by the Church to certain saints. This title indicates that the writings and preachings of such a person are useful to Christians “in any age of the Church.” Such men and women are also particularly known for the depth of understanding and the orthodoxy of their theological teachings. While the writings of the Doctors are often considered inspired by the Holy Spirit; this does not mean they are infallible, but it does mean that they contributed significantly to the formulation of Christian teaching in at least one area. http://www.catholic.org/saints/doctors.php