Written By: David Gilbert
Today we have been blessed with a new pope, the Vicar of Christ, Pope Francis!
To be honest when the name of the new Pope came I didn’t know too much about Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (now Pope Francis). Since then I have found some interesting facts about him that you might find good to know (and get to know) about the man we now call Pope Francis, our new “Papa”:
- Jorge Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, one of the five children of an Italian immigrant railway worker and his wife.
- He is 76 years old.
- He is a Jesuit and from 1973 – 1979 the Society of Jesus promoted Bergoglio to serve as provincial for Argentina
- He chose to live in an apartment rather than the bishop’s residence and doesn’t have a chauffeur and preferred to use the metro to get around Buenos Aires.
- He was rumoured to be the front runner to the papal elections of Pope Benedict XVI
- He is staunchly pro-life. He encouraged his clergy and laity to oppose both abortion and euthanasia.
- He has insisted that adoption by homosexuals is a form of discrimination against children.
- He is unusual in that he has always rejected posts in the Roman Curia and only visited the Vatican when it was absolutely necessary. One thing he hates to see in the clergy is “spiritual wordliness”: ecclesiastical careerism disguised as clerical refinement.
May God Bless him as he becomes the 265th successor of St. Peter. May he guide the Church in these difficult times both within and outside the Church.