By Lambe Lamis 
A number of times back, on just the next day of the conclave and on the fifth ballot, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was elected the 266th Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, and the 265th Successor of Saint Peter, and has taken the name of Francis. He is the very first pope from Latin The usa, the to start with Jesuit pontiff, and the first non-European pope in quite a few generations.
This new pope brought lots of surprises. For one matter, I did not count on the cardinals to elect a new pontiff so swiftly, given that they seemed to lack crystal clear direction in the wake of Pope Benedict’s gorgeous resignation, and the fact that no single cardinal stood out as a very clear front-runner likely into this conclave. But seemingly the cardinal electors experienced already begun to form a consensus close to a unique prospect when they entered the conclave-a candidate about whom they did not communicate overtly to the information media. That was a tactful go on their component, and a good way of working with the contemporary planet media machine that tries its most effective to impact the election of the future pope. They permitted journalists to emphasis on their preferred candidates and indulge in their beloved speculations, and then pulled the rug from underneath their toes with the speedy election of a “darkish horse.” It truly is plainly apparent that the cardinal electors did not allow the world’s media to impact their final decision. That is heartening, and the cardinal electors deserve our great respect and heat congratulations for carrying out their obligation so properly amid tricky situations. In selecting a pope, their solemn responsibility is to observe their consciences and solid their ballot for the gentleman whom they really feel is finest qualified to direct the Church at this unique moment. And they have taken that responsibility very seriously, many thanks be to God.
For a different factor, I was not anticipating this specific cardinal to be elected to the papacy. I did include him on my list of 30-two papabili for the reason that according to my research he fulfilled the skills for a critical papal applicant having said that, I set him a strategies down the checklist (at #20) due to the fact I felt he was a bit of a lengthy shot, generally for the reason that of his age and relative obscurity. I also felt a Latin American pope was significantly less very likely than an Italian or other European. But age, nationality, and familiarity with the general public are only secondary concerns for the cardinal electors in selecting a new pope.
Also, I was not expecting a Jesuit pope, but I am nevertheless delighted to see just one. I have fantastic respect for the Jesuits mainly because of their higher education and faithful service to the Church in excess of the centuries as perfectly as in our very own working day. They were being established by Saint Ignatius of Loyola to be very simple still very qualified and faithful servants of the pope, and they have been forbidden to accept ecclesiastical honors this sort of as remaining designed a bishop, a cardinal, or pope. So it is ironic to have a Jesuit who has accepted all three of these honors. But of training course, it is up to the pope to appoint bishops and identify cardinals, and he can bestow these honors on whomever he thinks really should be specified them. And it truly is up to the cardinals to elect a pope and to pick the guy whom they think is most suited for that situation. Saint Ignatius perceived that the threat in accepting honors is that they can make adult males proud and arrogant. But even with his great learning, Jorge Bergoglio is obviously a humble male and has remained so, which is why he was given these honors-and why it was suitable that he should have been supplied them. He acknowledged them in humble obedience to the authority of the Church, not out of delight or to advance his ecclesiastical career. His schooling as a Jesuit will no question establish a useful contribution to the papacy and the Church.
And eventually, I was not expecting the new pope to choose a identify that no preceding pontiff has applied. I believed he would phone himself Pope John Paul III or Benedict XVII or Paul VII or John XXIV or Pius XIII or anything like that. But no, he chose Francis. What a wonderful and appropriate title–probably in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, the inadequate and humble person, and Saint Francis Xavier, the fantastic Jesuit missionary–or potentially in honor of Saint Francis de Income, the sixteenth-century “gentleman saint.”
This man was unfamiliar to me I had in no way seriously noticed him prior to his appearance on the loggia of Saint Peter’s Basilica, so I was not confident what to be expecting. When he first came out on the balcony, at first he seemed a minimal distant and reserved, most likely even a little bit nervous and fearful, as he stood there practically motionless, solemnly experiencing the huge crowds of cheering persons in Saint Peter’s Sq., acknowledging their applause with an occasional slight wave of a single hand. He seemed as stunned as we were being by the cardinals’ decision of a pope. Frankly, I felt a bit sorry for him. Just like Cardinal Ratzinger prior to him, he did not want to be elected pope, and most likely did not even expect it. As he stood there just before us, clothed simply in the white papal garments with his pectoral cross, he appeared to have the body weight of the earth on his shoulders-and in a really authentic perception he did, mainly because the present day papacy is a large accountability. His rigid and dignified stance reminded me of previously pre-Vatican II pontiffs.
Then as His Holiness commenced speaking into the microphone, smiling as he warmly greeted the men and women in Italian, my apprehensions melted away and I was quickly gained over to the new pope. His phrases of greeting lasted at minimum a moment, for a longer time than individuals of the two previous pontiffs. In a considerate and respectful gesture, he very first directed our notice to his excellent predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and led us in praying an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for him. I was amazed by how he then bowed down in front of the entire globe and questioned us, the devoted, to pray that God would bless him just before he gave us his initial blessing as our new Shepherd in Christ. Once he experienced done that, he added a few phrases of farewell, saying he seemed forward to observing the people on Sunday, and wishing them superior evening.
This is plainly a man of profound humility, simplicity and deep faith, a person of restrained and even temperament who also knows how to converse with an viewers by way of meticulously preferred words and phrases and significant gestures-a male who, I believe, will evangelize the planet largely by his very own impressive illustration of holiness.
Now that I’m receiving to know Pope Francis a very little better, and who he was as Cardinal Bergoglio, I realize that my initially impressions of this guy as remaining distant and fearful were being inaccurate. This is not a bold and outgoing character like Pope John Paul II or a shy and gentle scholar like Pope Benedict XVI. This is a various type of person altogether: noble and dignified, reserved and correct, with peaceful existence, however however a gentleman of deep pleasure, variety and cheerful, who is capable to hook up with individuals. He has his own persona and design, and as he stepped onto the entire world phase as our new pope, he was extra or significantly less simply being himself.
I do gather one matter in particular about this man’s exclusive persona and design and style from the time we invested ready for him to arise just after the white smoke and the formal announcement of his election, and the time he took on the balcony to greet us and lead us in prayer, and how he lingered a instant just before departing. This is a man who is not in a hurry. He requires his time, and is at ease undertaking so. And I imagine that that sends a incredibly significant information to our modern-day, quickly-paced, remarkably secularized and materialistic 20-to start with-century planet, in which we are pressured to hurry to get so many distinctive matters, that there is a little something considerably far more important than almost everything else that is worth not hurrying for. It is when we gradual down and permit go and listen that God can discuss to us in the stillness of our hearts. We have to have the braveness to shut out the entire world from time to time in order to deepen our connection with God and make it possible for him to direct our life in direction of our heavenly objective.
As I go on to observe the papacy, I’m coming to master that each and every pope is special and has anything specific to instruct us. Pope John Paul II taught us to be bold and fearless in proclaiming the Gospel to the finishes of the earth. Pope Benedict XVI taught us the significance of remaining correctly shaped in our religion and of holding the liturgy and the 2nd Vatican Council inside the correct context of the Church’s rich custom. And I imagine that Pope Francis will teach us how to gradual down and hear to the Holy Spirit, as effectively as how to serve the Lord and one particular another in simplicity, humility, and charity. His design will get some receiving employed to, but we will get utilized to it just as we obtained accustomed to the design and style of Pope Benedict XVI prior to him. I’m sure he will do a wonderful occupation of succeeding the two wonderful pontiffs of our time, and will continue on primary the Church in the way it has been taken by Popes John Paul and Benedict.
We are certainly blessed to have Pope Francis as our new Holy Father. May perhaps God bless him and assist him, by way of the intercession of the Virgin Mary and all the Angels and Saints, to faithfully carry out the task entrusted to him for years to appear.