Pope Francis Knows What Must Be Done

Crisis Magazine ^ | 3/14/13 | Scott P. Richert

[marshmallow]

Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum; habemus Papam: Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum, Dominum Georgium Marium Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Bergoglio qui sibi nomen imposuit Franciscum.

The stunned silence in the second or two after the announcement from the central balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica spoke volumes. No one was expecting the cardinal-archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, to be named the immediate successor of Pope Benedict XVI and the 265th successor of Saint Peter. Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio, the first Jesuit to be elected pope and the first pope from the Americas, had been mentioned on various lists of papabile but universally dismissed as too old. Never mind that he is two years younger than Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was in 2005, and, by all accounts, in better health than Ratzinger was in then (let alone than Benedict is in now). The conventional wisdom was that the Catholic Church “needed” a younger, stronger, more vibrant pope—which, in the minds of secular journalists and pundits, meant a pope who would change with the times.

Indeed, a New York Times/CBS News poll, released on March 6, “push-polled” American Catholics: “Which comes closer to what you’re looking for in the next Pope? 1. Someone younger with new ideas OR 2. Someone older with more experience.” (It does not seem to have occurred to the pollsters that those cardinals most likely to endorse what the Times considers “new ideas” are, in fact, among the oldest.) And in the wake of Cardinal Bergoglio’s election, the Gray Lady’s headline editors could not hide their disappointment: “Argentine Pope Will Make History, but Backs Vatican Line.” Who would have guessed that the new pope would be a Catholic?

The answer would be anyone who understands the Catholic Church (which, sadly, includes a decreasing number of Catholics). The election of this particular man took....

[Forward the Light Brigade]

I look to see great changes in the Roman Catholic Church in the next few years. I imagine Francis will be a People’s Pope with lots of travel and cleaning things up at the Vatican. We may not always agree with him but I think he is what the church needs at this time. His opinions may well change—To be Pope is to see things in a new way.

[Biggirl]

Just in the last few days alone, he had to deal with changes, no longer the obscure cardinal who took the bus.

[Albion Wilde]

a New York Times/CBS News...“push-polled” American Catholics: “Which comes closer to what you’re looking for in the next Pope? 1. Someone younger with new ideas OR 2. Someone older with more experience.” (It does not seem to have occurred to the pollsters that those cardinals most likely to endorse what the Times considers “new ideas” are, in fact, among the oldest.)

Ageism is the only form of discrimination still completely ignored and rampant.

[Salvation]

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HABEMUS PAPAM!!! (Live Thread)