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(by Alexandra Ulmer and Kevin Liffey, Reuters) SANTIAGO/LONDON – Latin America’s Roman Catholics rejoiced that the new Pope Francis is one of their own. [Pope Francis is the first ever from the Americas, an austere Jesuit intellectual who modernized Argentina’s conservative Catholic church.
Known until Wednesday as (Cardinal) Jorge Bergoglio, the 76-year-old is known as a humble man who denied himself the luxuries that previous Buenos Aires cardinals enjoyed.]
Commentators said Francis had a reputation for being as conservative as his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, but Latin American Catholics celebrated the fact that the cardinals had, in his words, gone “to the end of the world” to find him.
“A Latino is more open to others, while a European is more closed,” said 75-year-old Ana Solis outside Santiago’s Metropolitan Cathedral in Chile. “A change like this will be very important for us Latin Americans.”
Latin America is home to 42 percent of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics and the election of Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio ended nearly 1,300 years of popes born in Europe.
The choice of papal name in tribute to the mediaeval Saint Francis of Assisi, known for a life of poverty and simplicity, also suggested an emphasis on humility from a man known at home for cooking his own meals and travelling by bus. …
Francis must tackle crises …within the Church – [problems] that Pope Benedict declared in February were, at age 85, beyond his physical capabilities. …
Francis also faces challenges from outside his Church, with the growth of Islam a particular concern in Africa and Asia, and the advance of secularism in its European heartland and beyond.
[Leaders from the western world were optimistic about Pope Francis.] [And] in Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, Slamet Effendy Yusuf, head of the Indonesian Ulema Council, noted that most Muslims live in developing countries. “We think that the new pope will better understand why in Islam there tends to be an attitude of negativity towards the West, because he is from a developing country himself,” he said. “I hope the new pope will … engage more in dialogue and not confrontation. We believe this is a new chapter in the history of relations between Muslims and Catholics.” …The World Jewish Congress offered congratulations and Israeli President Shimon Peres said Francis “comes in the wake of a pope who greatly promoted ties with us”. He added: “I am sure that the chosen pope will maintain this course.”
Some questioned whether Francis, the 76-year-old son of an Italian immigrant railway worker, was too old to lead a Church that needs to attract younger worshippers to fill emptying pews.
“I think they missed an opportunity to renew themselves: they’ve picked another old guy,” said Daniel Villalpando, a 32-year-old web designer in Mexico City.
Even in the Philippines, the Church’s bulwark against Islam in Asia, Father Francis Lucas of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference said the new pope was “not young any more.”
But his compatriot Father Emmanuel Alfonso, executive director of the Jesuit Communications Foundation, said of the elevation of his fellow Jesuit to the papacy: “This is a radical change. The majority of Catholics live outside Europe and we have been praying for this.”
…There was little or no suggestion that Francis would be any less doctrinally conservative than his predecessors on issues such as…priestly celibacy, female ordination or homosexuality. …
…Francis’s calm, quiet demeanor [is inspiring to Catholics]. A Rome resident named Teresa spoke for many on Thursday morning when she said: “Yesterday he transmitted such humility, love and brotherhood. He gave all of us great hope and faith.”
…
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux around the world; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)
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Questions
1. What do you learn about the new pope from this article? (real name, age, nationality, etc.)
2. a) What name did Cardinal Bergoglio take as pope?
b) What is the significance of this name?
3. a) What is the population of the world?
b) How many Catholics are there worldwide?
c) What percent of Catholics are Latin American?
4. What challenges will Pope Francis face from outside the church?
5. a) What concern did some people have about Bergoglio’s age, according to the reporters?
b) Do you think this should be a cause for concern? Explain your answer.
c) Ask a parent, and a grandparent the same question.
6. Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona wrote: “The ‘hand of God’ has brought us an Argentinian pope.”
What are your thoughts about God allowing leaders (including the Pope) to be put in positions of authority? Explain your answer.
Daniel 2:21 – “And [God] changes the times and the seasons; Her removes kings and raises up kings…”
Background
ABOUT POPE FRANCIS:
The former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who awakens at 4:30 a.m. and improvises his sermons, was born in Buenos Aires to Italian immigrants. Pope Francis studied theology in Germany and was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1969. He was appointed as bishop in 1992 and six years later was named archbishop of Buenos Aires. He was named a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001.
A lover of tango, Argentina’s national music, Cardinal Bergoglio is a fan of the San Lorenzo soccer club in Buenos Aires, which was founded by Father Lorenzo, a priest who helped get at-risk kids off the street. The club has a picture on its website of the cardinal holding one of its jerseys.
The new pope is also regarded as a bridge builder who may bring an image of humility to a church beset by scandal. People who know him say he has long visited working-class slums, true to his Jesuit origins.
When he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, he attended a Mass for a local charismatic organization – a movement which practices a holy spirit-centered faith that shares some practices with evangelicals, including lively singing at services – according to Pino Scafuro, a local priest. After the Mass, he was swarmed by the faithful, so Father Pino offered the church leader a stool to stand on so he could see and greet everyone more easily. Cardinal Bergoglio declined the offer, saying he wanted to be “on the same level as the people,” according to Father Pino.
“He’s got a very strong social-justice position that will be much appreciated by the more progressive [liberal] forces in the church,” said Virginia Garrard-Burnett, professor of history and religious studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Although he’s certainly not a liberal.”
The new pontiff has walked a fine line politically in a country that has often been sharply divided between hard left and hard right. While he has frequently criticized the large gap between rich and poor in Latin America, he never followed many of his fellow Jesuits in pursuing Liberation Theology in the 1960s and 1970s, a movement that sought to lift the living standards for the region’s poor. The movement became entwined with Marxist ideologies that were inspiring armed rebellion across the region…
“He didn’t want to politicize the company of Christ,” his spokesman, Guillermo Marco, told Argentina’s Clarin daily.
In Argentina, the new pope is seen as conservative on social issues and has come out strongly against abortion and gay marriage. During a debate over a bill to legalize gay marriage that was eventually approved by Argentina’s Congress in 2010, then-Cardinal Bergoglio strongly condemned the proposal in a public letter.
He wrote: “Let’s not be naive: this isn’t just a simple political fight, it is the destructive pretension against the plan of God.” (from wsj.com)
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