We’re still reading up on the new Holy Father, but for now, here’s a bit to get you started:
Catholic Culture has an informative story on today’s events, and Thomas L. McDonald is rounding up news and reactions as they arrive. CBS and other outlets have published the full text of Pope Francis’ brief speech. Zenit reports that the new pope has already spoken with his predecessor and will meet with journalists on Saturday.
CNN confirmed with a Vatican spokesman that “the new pope took the name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi because he is a lover of the poor” and the new pope should be known as Pope Francis, not Pope Francis I.” CNN also quotes reporter John Allen as calling the choice of name “stunning” and “precedent-shattering.” Rocco Palmo states that when Bergoglio was made a cardinal in 2001, he “urged Argentinians not to come [to Rome for the ceremony], but donate the money they’d spend to the poor.”
John Allen’s recent article and a 2002 profile by Sandro Magister detail Pope Francis’ personal simplicity, and his Wikipedia page fills in some more biographical details. He is the author of several books and the subject of a biography called El Jesuita (The Jesuit), but if Amazon is any guide, none of those are available in English. The Associated Press quotes the biographer Sergio Rubin in its story, however, and Our Sunday Visitor has announced plans to publish an English-language biography of Pope Francis by Matthew Bunson called The New Pope.
Zenit has covered some of Pope Francis’ writings and actions as a cardinal: his 2010 letter to catechists, his 2007 celebration of Rosh Hashana, his defense of traditional marriage, and his take on bishops’ call to holiness. Dawn Eden quotes his 2001 meditation on divine mercy, and one blogger has translated some of the then-cardinal’s homilies and talks (such this year’s Lenten letter, plus 2008’s Palm Sunday and Easter Vigil homilies). Life News calls him a “staunch pro-life advocate,” citing a strongly worded 2007 speech on the subject.
George Weigel told NBC News that the new pope is “a very brave man”:
“He will be a great defender of religion around the world.”
“The papacy has moved to the New World. The church has a new pope with a new name,” he added. “I think it speaks to the church’s commitment to the poor of the world and compassion in a world that often needs a lot of healing.”
Olga Khazan of The Atlantic says “the humble, compassionate Bergoglio could be the right man for the job.” John Haldane shares his thoughts in “A New Pope for a New Chapter in an Old Story,” and Ross Douthat shares his on his New York Times blog.
Finally, Pope Francis’ episcopal motto was “miserando atque eligendo” (lowly and yet chosen)—which sounds like the feeling he must have as he ascends to the papacy.
h/t Jeffrey Pinyan, @eleysium, Michael Cecire, Michael Brendan Dougherty, and FOCUS
March 13th, 2013 | 5:09 pm
I thought it was supposed to mean “Lowly and yet chosen”
March 13th, 2013 | 5:10 pm
Ah you’re right of course, I’ve changed it from “miserable” to “lowly.” You can tell I was writing in a hurry!
March 13th, 2013 | 5:15 pm
Love this quote from the Allen article:
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.”
While Caritas in Veritate was a bit buried, I expect Pope Francis to be more forceful in a call for economic justice.
March 13th, 2013 | 5:16 pm
Well, it’s nice that he celebrated Rosh Hashana — how about the Latin Mass, though?
March 13th, 2013 | 5:40 pm
This “staunch” life advocated is accused by many of being silent during the military dictatorship in Argentina, while many of the members of his own order (jesuits) wrere tortured and murdered by that goverment (some even accuse hime of actually actively colaborating with that regimen).
March 13th, 2013 | 5:59 pm
“We’re still reading up on the new Holy Father, but for now, here’s a bit to get you started.”
Pretty sure this is a run-on sentence.
March 13th, 2013 | 6:02 pm
@pgk
Talk like that will get you declared canonically irregular (cf. SSPX). :)
March 13th, 2013 | 6:09 pm
Sometimes the right man for the job is a woman.
March 13th, 2013 | 6:18 pm
@Ron, forgive me, I was writing in a hurry!
@Sergio, I haven’t read up on the details, but a longer AP story gives the biographer’s take on the controversies you mention:
March 13th, 2013 | 6:21 pm
How beautiful! A new reading list. Where to start?
March 13th, 2013 | 7:04 pm
He seems so real. Down to earth he drew me in spiritually
March 13th, 2013 | 7:09 pm
carol,
the job at hand is “father.” perhaps you know a woman who can be a father?
March 13th, 2013 | 8:44 pm
Well – as an independent, I am relatively pleased with the new choice of Pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina. He calls himself “Francis” after the humble and caring monk of yore (kind to animals too as legend has it?), is humble and simple of lifestyle, cares about the poor and justice, and has a degree in chemistry. Looks to me, an improvement over his immediate predecessor and surely many others as well. Looks to have some failings too.
” Pope Francis chose his name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi because he is a lover of the poor, said Vatican deputy spokesman Thomas Rosica.
“Cardinal Bergoglio had a special place in his heart and his ministry for the poor, for the disenfranchised, for those living on the fringes and facing injustice,” Rosica said.” (CNN)
Good for you, bro!
March 13th, 2013 | 10:49 pm
Anna, does your explanation help to resolve the complaints in the below link, going around now and surely needing some response:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/jan/04/argenitina-videla-bergoglio-repentance
March 13th, 2013 | 10:53 pm
As the guy responsible for the on-the-spot translation of Bergoglio’s episcopal motto — and I sure hope I have done it justice! — I thought I’d share my blog post on it, in which I consider its significance a bit more deeply. It’s a summary of the Magnificat, of the wisdom of God (in choosing the weak to confound the strong), and of the whole divine economy in general!
March 13th, 2013 | 11:07 pm
The name chosen by the next pope: Boniface.
You heard it here first.
March 14th, 2013 | 10:52 am
I don’t understand the comment from pgk mentioning the Pope’s celebrating Rosh Hashanah but wanting to see interest in the Latin Mass. Two unrelated subjects, aren’t they? I do hope that Pope Francis continues the work begun at Vatican II (Nostra Aetate) to heal the past wounds inflicted by the church upon our Jewish brothers and sisters.
March 14th, 2013 | 11:02 am
I don’t know about others, but I’m getting tired of hearing about someone’s “silence” being wrong without supporting evidence. Whatever happened to “Talk is cheap”? My guess is that it’s too easy to find something that an important person hasn’t said and turn it against them, even though such claims make no logical sense.
March 14th, 2013 | 11:08 am
@Neil, I had not seen that article until you posted it and know almost nothing about the issue; however, I just learned that article you link to has since been updated by the Guardian with this major correction:
March 14th, 2013 | 12:44 pm
@Mike Melendez
Our enemies do not care about truth, they will do everything in their power to slight us. They are blinded by hatred.
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