Habemus Papam

Figure 1 The white smoke from the Sistine Chapel

 

Habemus Papam. Those are the words which were announced to the world that a new Pope had been indeed selected. An hour before white smoke had billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel sending the faithful and interested people into a frenzy as they awaited as to who actually was chosen by the Cardinals of the Catholic Church to lead 1.2 billion of their members. The new pope is 76 year old Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires in Argentina. He is the first non-European pope in over a 1000 years and the first from the Jesuit order. He chose the name Francis, from St. Francis of Assisi, a 12^th century man who loved the poor.

Figure 2 Habemus Papam

 

Many people including some cardinals who participated in the conclave thought he had chosen the name Francis from St. Francis Xavier who was one of the founders of the Society of Jesus, commonly referred to as the Jesuits. But Vatican officials clarified this and said the name came from St. Francis of Assisi. He will be called Pope Francis and not Francis I as first reported. Vatican officials said that he will be referred to as Francis I when there is a Francis II.

What is interesting from all of this is that the pundits had got it wrong as to who was actually to become pope even though Pope Francis was the runner-up to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI when he was elected back in 2005. Even when the name Francis was announced most thought it was from Francis Xavier when it was from Francis of Assisi.

The election of Pope Francis is going to reinvigorate the Catholic Church because he has a different perspective from the current paradigm. Time will tell if he is going to make a positive impact given the optimism people are having about him.