Comment du Jour

Habemus Papam--we have a Pope!

Pope Francis from Argentina

An extraordinary series of events marked the Catholic Church this year with the unexpected retirement of Pope Benedict XVI of Germany and the subsequent election of a new Pope from Latin America.

Set amid the splendor of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel the Conclave of Cardinals elected a man of incredible simplicity

This selection in the opinion of many Vatican experts shifts the Church center of gravity from Europe to Latin America, the region with the largest number of Catholics worldwide.

Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina actually reprents anything but a break but a seamless continunity.  Though of Italian heritage,
the 76 year old Cardinal was born in Argntina, a country which culturally looks to Europe as much as to the rest of Latin America.

Though the Italians have played a powerful role in the Papacy for over 400 years, until the election of John Paul II of Poland and subsequently Benedict XVI of Germany, the new Pope is ethnically Italian and from a country which has long portrayed itself as a cultural bridge between Latin America and Europe.

With over one billion Catholics worldwide, Pope Francis faces an amazing spiritual,  social and managerial challenge. Interestingly Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio is a Jesuit, the first Pontiff in history to come from that order.