NEW POPE: POPE FRANCIS
- Photos: Ave Maria University Reacts to Pope Bergoglio of Argentina
- Photos: Pope Francis named as 266th pontiff of the Roman Caltholic Church
- Photos: Jorge Mario Bergoglio: Pope Francis
- Argentines celebrate election of one of their own as pope
- Local Catholics call new pope 'humble, good man'
- Francis is first pope from the Americas
- Social media's reaction to announcement of new pope
- White smoke signals new pope elected
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis — the first Jesuit pope — has spent nearly his entire career at home in Argentina.
The former Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, reportedly got the second-most votes after Joseph Ratzinger, the last pope, in the 2005 papal election. He has long specialized in the kind of pastoral work — overseeing churches and priests — that some say is an essential skill for a pope.
In a lifetime of teaching and leading priests in Latin America, which has the largest share of the world's Catholics, the former Bergoglio has shown a keen political sensibility as well as a self-effacing humility, according to his official biographer, Sergio Rubin. His personal style is the antithesis of Vatican splendor.
Bergoglio is also known for modernizing an Argentine church that had been among the most conservative in Latin America.
POSTED EARLIER
Cardinal Proto-Deacon Jean-Louis Tauran of France came out and announced that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, of Argentina is the elected Pontiff
He will be known as Pope Francis.
He is the first Pope from South America.
He was elected on the fifth ballot.
POSTED EARLIER
Cardinals elected a new pope to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on Wednesday, overcoming deep divisions to select the 266th pope in a remarkably fast conclave.
Tens of thousands of people who braved cold rain to watch the smokestack atop the Sistine Chapel jumped in joy when white smoke poured out, many shouting "Habemus Papam!" or "We have a pope!" — as the bells of St. Peter's Basilica and churches across Rome tolled, signaling a pontiff had been chosen.
The pope, whose identity isn't yet known, is due to emerge from the loggia overlooking St. Peter's Square to deliver his first words as the Bishop of Rome.
Elected on the fifth ballot, he was chosen in one of the fastest conclaves in years, remarkable given there was no clear front-runner going into the vote and that the church had been in turmoil following the upheaval unleashed by Pope Benedict XVI's surprise resignation.
A winner must receive 77 votes, or two-thirds of the 115, to be named pope.
The conclave played out against the backdrop of the first papal resignation in 600 years and revelations of mismanagement, petty bickering, infighting and corruption in the Holy See bureaucracy. Those revelations, exposed by the leaks of papal documents last year, had divided the College of Cardinals into camps seeking a radical reform of the Holy See's governance and those defending the status quo.
The names mentioned most often as "papabile" — a cardinal who has the stuff of a pope — include Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan, an intellect in the vein of Benedict but with a more outgoing personality, and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Canadian head of the Vatican's important bishops' office who is also scholarly but reserved like Benedict.
Brazilian Cardinal Odilo Scherer is liked by the Vatican bureaucracy but not by all of his countrymen. And Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary has the backing of European cardinals who have twice elected him as head of the European bishops' conference.
On the more pastoral side is Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, the favorite of the Italian press, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the back-slapping, outgoing archbishop of New York who has admitted himself that his Italian is pretty bad — a drawback for a job that is conducted almost exclusively in the language.
Continue to follow this story at naplesnews.com.
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Comments » 2
KlausStoertebeker writes:
A sensation? Maybe! He was second in 2005 and he is the first Jesuit Pope and the first Pope out from Europe.
76 years old means not a transmission Pope but also not a powerful younger revolutionizer.
However the Holy Roman Catholic Church started a small new beginning.
The background of the new Pope is a little bit tricky. Parents immigrated to Argentina after the Mussolini regime was over. A lot of fascists and Nazis emigrated to Argentina. Maybe a compromises between the Italian connection and the necessary new position of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
I have no idea what the way is. I am not a catholic. But as boss of 1.4 Billion follower he is one of the most powerful political figure worldwide.
He decided to take the name Franciskus. Franz von Assisi was a rich kid and decided to live in poverty and established the Franciscan society inside the catholic church. Very powerful even today.
Maybe that means the new Pope do not like pomp and circumstances. Maybe a new beginning necessary like the Republican in America.
But once is for sure. A historical day today, March 13, 2013. Nobody expected that.
God with you Franz I.
KlausStoertebeker writes:
Continuous:
Differently than his predecessor, he was also no purple Minetta, not those shoulder cloak lined with ermine, the Red of the Popes is reminiscent of the imperial legacy. According to Bergoglios reputation, modesty not certain the scenery more.
Nothing changed in the following minutes remember. By 265. successor of the Apostle Peter the faithful expected the first blessing according to ancient custom "Urbi et orbi", for the city of Rome and the whole world. But Jorge Bergoglio, who was still Archbishop of Buenos Aires on the morning of this March of 13, first asked for the blessing. So it was still on the course, while the new Pope high up bent in humility.
With eyes closed, people clutched rosaries and crosses, wished the best the new Pontiff. No rite of the Roman Catholic Church provides this joint prayer at the launch of a new Pope. And that is why it became a powerful character.
When surprises are a testament to divine work, then the Holy Spirit must be blow on the 13th day after Benedict XVI with full force on the Vatican Hill. Because all candidates traded in the days before still hot looked further than Cardinals from the side Windows of Saint Peter. Instead, one was presented by the "end of the world", as he himself said, as head of the Catholic Church.
The Church got "in foreclosure"?
It was at least at second thought something monstrous, the small, quivering Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran announced shortly after eight: the new Pope had given the name of Francis. So was the Saint who bears also the title "Alter Christus" - the other, the second Christ. As otherwise hardly a figure in the history of the Church, Francis is not only for self-imposed poverty.
It would be to underestimate this highly educated Jesuit, one wanted to him suggest that he did not know that at his name. He takes over the leadership of the Catholic Church at a time when it is deep in crisis. Not a day goes by where in the media not world's abuse, money-laundering, treason and nepotism is mentioned.
From the Vatican until in the last Vikarie's resignation has resulted no later than Benedict XVI. enormous uncertainty. Was it really just age and reasons of illness, which on the evening of 28 February the helicopter towards Castel Gandolfo climb it? There are still those ominous 300 pages on which the Tripartite Commission set up by Benedict has resigned her report about the situation in the Catholic Church, especially in the ruling Curia behind the sealed doors of the Apostolic apartments in Palazzo Damasus.
IWhen Francis I hold this report in hands, he is likely to see whether the Church entrusted to him now, has been "totally in foreclosure" actually, how it should be described already his patron over 800 years ago. And then?
Then the crucial question is: will this playfully from Argentina be who can stop the stream of negative news?
We will see.
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