Wednesday, March 13, 2013
New Pope Elected
There is a new pope. It happened seemingly very quickly, once the cardinals had assembled. It was not nearly so quick as this back in 2005, as far as I can remember.
The next pontiff was announced to waiting throngs at the Vatican's Saint Peter's Square.
His name is Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, and he has served as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires since 1998, and was a Jesuit, entering the Society of Jesuits in 1958 He was born on December 17, 1936. At 78, he is an older pope than many people had expected. In 2005, he came second in a close race to the eventual pope, Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI. Now, Bergoglio succeeds Benedict as the new pope, following Benedict's resignation.
The announcement came a little over an hour after the white smoke, which itself came quite a bit earlier than most people expected.
In his first public appearance as the new pope,he started off joking with the assembled crowd, before quickly asking for a moment of silence. He asked everyone to pray for him, and seemed to have a real connection with them.
He has been mentioned as being very down to earth. He lives in a small apartment, rides public transportation, and makes his own meals, according to CNN.
As Archbishop, he was a vocal critic of corruption in Argentina. Also, he was a very strong advocate of the poor.
His position on homosexuality is with the Church, and is opposed to adoption by homosexual couples, suggesting it is a form of abuse. That said, he has expressed the need for tolerance of gays.
His position on birth control is also stands with the church, although he famously washed and kissed the feet of twelve AIDS patients in 2001.
This is the first pope to come from someplace other than Europe in over a thousand years. Many people feel that this pope, from what the Vatican still considers the "New World" marks a shift in direction and priorities for the church, as well as an acknowledgments that Europe no longer is the center of Catholicism, strictly speaking. Many expected the pope to come from either North or South America, or possibly Africa.
He has taken the name Francis, and is already now the new pope.
Pope Francis I, who's papacy has now begun. Let's see what the new papacy brings forth.
Much of the information for this blog was found by Wikepedia's page on Bergoglio:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Bergoglio
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment