"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." – Matthew 16:18
Habemus Papam!!! After waiting for a quite and while, watching seagulls taking turns sitting on the Vatican chimney, is was such a relief to see white smoke appear from the tiny smokestack on the night of March 13, 2013. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He took the name of Pope Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. He is the first Pope to take that name and he is also the first non-European Pope the church has ever seen. Along with that, he made history as the first Jesuit to be elected as the successor of Peter.
Pope Francis is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is a huge turning point for the Church, since the Holy See is now coming from somewhere other than Europe. I believe this will engage other cultures more-so into the Roman Catholic faith. I'm sure the Latin American countries had a huge fiesta in honor and celebration of their newly elected Pope. As I watched the news that day I saw Cardinal Dolan reflect on the election of the new Pope, stating, "Can you imagine when Pope Francis goes for World Youth Day, which may probably be his first international trip in July to Brazil, can you imagine the welcome he'll get, a Pope from Latin America? You can imagine the joy in our Latin American brothers."
When I heard Cardinal Dolan's response I thought he must have read my mind. I was thinking the exact same thing! This is wonderful news for our Latin American friends who will be hosting Pope Francis in Rio de Janeiro this summer. I am so happy for them and for our Church! Even though Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was an unlikely choice for the pontificate, I think he was most definitely the best choice—by far. I had never heard of him before he stepped out as Pope. But, he seems like such a sweet, kind, humble, and holy man of God. Our Church needs someone like him to reach out to the young people, which he will be doing this summer. I'm sure he never expected to be the Pope; but here he is, fulfilling the duty God has entrusted to him.
Yesterday, March 14th, the 76-year-old Argentinian celebrated his first Mass as Pope in the Sistine Chapel among his fellow Cardinals. He gave a short homily in Italian, although he is also fluent in Spanish, English, German, French, and Latin. Being very versatile in several languages will also help him to communicate better with the members of the Church.
I personally like that he remains true to himself, being a very simple man, and also has a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as do many other Latin Americans. Immediately after he was elected as Pope he addressed the crowd in St. Peter's square and said he intends to pray and ask the Madonna "that she may watch over all of Rome."
Feel free to check out the following links for more news and updates about the Pope:
Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/14/world-watches-as-cardinals-convene-for-2nd-day-papal-conclave/
NBC News: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/14/17307513-pope-francis-celebrates-first-mass-emphasizes-gospels?lite
