After 13 days of vacancy, the Roman Catholic Church elected its new pope. On March 13, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, became the 266th Bishop of Rome under the name Francis. Bergoglio is the first Jesuit in history to be elected, the first to pick the name Francis and the first Pope from the Southern Hemisphere.
Francis comes from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has been Archbishop of Buenos Aires since 1998. In 2001, he was appointed Cardinal by John Paul II. The new pope picked his name based on 12th century Italian Saint Francis of Assisi because of his simple lifestyle and dedication to the poor.
More than 40 percent of Roman Catholics in the world live in South America, especially in Brazil, Peru and Argentina.
“As a Latina, I feel excited about having someone from my same race and that speaks my same language in the Vatican,” junior Emisa Diaz said.”For us, the Catholic Walton Scholars, this pope reminds (us) of John Paul II because of his humbleness and charisma. I like having someone as conservative as Pope Francisco I because he will know how to stand against some issues in our world.”
His humility has already made him popular among non-Catholics, even if his being Latin American will define a new wave of conservative ideas.
“A South American pope will be theologically more conservative than the European candidates,” Dr. Allen Diles, associate professor of Bible, said. “It could be a sign that the (Catholic) church is not yet ready to become open to some of the more liberal thoughts like ordinations of women, abortion and homosexuality.”
Francis is also the third non-Italian pope in a row. According to Diles, this could mean the Roman Catholic Church is intentionally trying to broaden its connection with the world and to not be only a European-run church. The night of his election, Pope Francis said it seemed to him that his brother cardinals went to fetch him at the “end of the world.”
Senior Emilio Espina said Francis is someone Latin Americans can identify with.
“The Catholic Church always wanted a pope from Europe but now we, the Latin Americans, are happy because everybody deserves the chance to be in that position,” Espino said. “He will do things differently, he will revolutionize the Vatican. Now that he is the pope, the non-Catholics will have more respect for our beliefs.”
