The emoticon for Habemus Papem from Vatican Communication's Twitter account
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Lorenzo Albacente on What the Pope Really Is for Catholics
Before being someone with a job to do, he is the one sent to us to hear, see and touch, whose physical presence is what links us to Christ. He is the custodian of the Incarnation.
Could anything be more counter-cultural than a media-shy Pope? Cardinal Bergoglio once refused a Curial position, saying it would kill him
Don’t you just love it when the Holy Spirit pulls the rug from under all our feet? I have to admit that when I heard the name of the man who had been elected Pope after little more than 24 hours of conclave, I was taken aback. But then I heard the name he had chosen as Pope, and I realised all was well: Francis. One of the beauties of faith is that it gives us a language which cuts to the chase. No one who knows anything about St Francis can fail to note that the beginning of his mission was rooted in those words Christ said to him from the Cross at San Damiano: “Francis, rebuild my Church!”
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He is a man for the poor, zealous for social justice in a continent where this is a crucial issue. He is a man for the weak and defenceless, defending the lives of the unborn, and the right of children to be brought up with the “human maturity that God willed them to have, with a father and a mother”. He is a man who leads by example, giving up a sumptuous palace and a chauffeur-driven car and washing the feet of Aids victims and drug addicts. He has encouraged an ecclesial movement – Communion and Liberation – which has brought countless young people back to the Church but has remained independent, a Jesuit whose life of prayer is founded on Jesuit spirituality. He comes from Latin America, but he has Italian parentage, which gives him the ability to speak directly to his brothers in Christ in his new home – having once refused a Curial position, saying that it would kill him (that is, according to the Vatican commentator, Sandro Magister).
The First Pope Named Francis by Sandro Magister
By electing as pope at the fourth scrutiny the archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the conclave has made a move as surprising as it is brilliant.
Surprising for those — almost everyone — who had not noticed, during the preceding days, the effective appearance of his name in the conversations among the cardinals. His relatively advanced age, 76 years and three months, led him to be classified more among the great electors than among the possible elect…
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A name that reflects his humble life. Having become archbishop of Buenos Aires 1998, he left empty the sumptuous episcopal residence next to the cathedral. He went to live in an apartment a short distance away, together with another elderly bishop. In the evening he was the one who saw to the cooking. He rarely rode in cars, getting around by bus in the cassock of an ordinary priest.
But he is also a man who knows how to govern. With firmness and against the tide. He is a Jesuit — the first to have become pope — and during the terrible 1970′s, when the dictatorship was raging and some of his confrères were ready to embrace the rifle and apply the lessons of Marx, he energetically opposed the tendency as provincial of the Society of Jesus in Argentina.
He has always carefully kept his distance from the Roman curia. It is certain that he will want it to be lean, clean, and loyal.
From a 2002 article about Cardinal Bergoglio by Sandro Magister
There isn´t a politician, from the right to the extreme left, who isn´t dying for the blessing of Bergoglio. Even the women of Plaza de Mayo, ultraradicals and unbridled anti-catholics, treat him with respect. He has even made inroads with one of them in private meetings. On another occasion, he visited the deathbed of an ex-bishop, Jeronimo Podestá, who had married in defiance of the Church and was dying poor and forgotten by all. From that moment, Mrs. Podestá became one of his devoted fans.
But Bergoglio has also had his difficulties with his ecclesiastical environment. He is a Jesuit of the old school, faithful to St. Ignatius. He became the provincial superior of the Society of Jesus in Argentina just when the dictatorship was in full furor and many of his confreres were tempted to take up the rifle and apply the teachings of Marx. Once removed from his position as superior, Bergoglio returned to obscurity. He came back into the public eye in 1992 when the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Antonio Quarracino, made him his auxiliary bishop.
Quiet thunder in Argentina (This profile of Cardinal Bergoglio first appeared in The Catholic Herald on October 7 2005
Bergoglio is admired as being far from the powers of this world, indifferent to his media image, preoccupied by the future of society, and a man looking always for new forms of social solidarity and justice in a country where 15 per cent are unemployed and thousands rummage through the bins at night looking for something to eat.
The media do not punish him for his silence, but speak of him with awe and respect. Many, including agnostic critics of the Church, regard him as the most credible social leader in a country in which, it ought to be said, politicians, union leaders and businessmen are regarded with considerable scepticism.
In Crisis magazine, Pope Francis knows what must be done by Scott P. Richert
Dinner with the new pope, Cardinal Dolan gives us an insider's look
Inside the residence, during the dinner, Dolan said the new pope showed his humorous side.
"We toasted him and when he toasted us he said: 'May God forgive you,' which brought the house down," he said.
Much funnier the way Cardinal Dolan tells the story as you can see on this YouTube link.
Three keys to Pope Francis - humility, reform, evangelization
Headlines from the MSM
NY Times “Argentine Pope Will Make History, but Backs Vatican Line.”
NBC News, Status quo leader: Same-sex marriage, abortion unlikely under Pope Francis
James Taranto deals with all the Popes and Dopes so I don't have to.
Would you believe the translator the BBC chose clearly didn't know the Lord's prayer given the mess he made in translation of both the Lord's prayer and the Hail Mary. Listen to the link to see what an abysmal choice the BBC made to translate the new Pope's remarks.
Posted by Jill Fallon at March 14, 2013 11:05 AM | Permalink