Our new pope

Open as the conclave of 2013 was, few would have predicted with any measure of confidence that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires would emerge on the balcony of St Peter’s as Pope Francis. Even though Cardinal Bergoglio was a known quantity — he reportedly received the second-highest number of votes in every round of ballots in the 2005 conclave — he was not considered among the favourites, especially given his age, 76.

His election was a surprise and a break with tradition: he is the first Latin American and the first Jesuit pope. And the new pontiff added to these innovations by becoming the first Pope Francis.

All three elements, which as a combination represent a sensation, testify to a collective will to reshape and purify the Church.

The election of a pope from Latin America signals that the Church in the developing world must now be seen as an equal partner; Pope Francis stands as a validation of the younger churches.

At the same time, the choice of a pope from an ethnic Italian background indicates that this must not be seen as a repudiation of the old Church.

Papal names tend to be richly symbolic, and the new pope’s choice of name stakes out his personality and vision.

Pope Francis, like the saint whose name he has adopted, is a man who values simplicity over pomp, ceremony and fine lace. As archbishop of Buenos Aires he was known to take public transport and cook for himself. His flock knew him not as Your Eminence, but as “Padre Jorge”.

This sense of humility and what is often called the “common touch” found expression in his first public action as pope: he asked the people to bless him before he would bless them.

And with that beautiful, collegial gesture, Pope Francis instantly won over the multitudes gathered in the wet St Peter’s Square and the millions watching on television.

There were some unmistakable echoes of the presentation of Pope John Paul II on October 16, 1978.

Catholics invariably love their popes; it is safe to say that they will love Pope Francis deeply, whether they agree with him on specifics or not.

The name Francis also evokes a sense of the new pope’s mission to evangelise, and to do so creatively. St Francis of Assisi broke much new ground in bringing the Gospel to the people.

Moreover, the pope’s fellow Jesuit, St Francis Xavier, was a pioneer in evangelisation, especially in the field of inculturation, which must be a keyword in the Church’s missionary endeavours.

Pope Francis will know from experience that the Catholic Church in Latin America is losing membership to pentecostal and evangelical churches, while in the West it is under tremendous pressure from the advancing secularisation of nations which once were solidly Christian.

The structures for the New Evangelisation are in place: Pope Francis will now have to take the Church’s mission forward, communicating the Gospel and the richness of the Catholic faith in ways that will reach the people who have heard it and yet do not believe, or who have taken their faith elsewhere.

In 2009, the then-Cardinal Bergoglio said: “Listen to the dreams of the young people, open their hearts to the wise memory of their elders.” Armed with this wisdom, Pope Francis will doubtless forge a solid rapport with young people.

During their meetings this month, many cardinals have prioritised a reform of the Roman curia as a challenge for the new pope. The forthrightness with which they criticised the corruption in the curia was startling, indicating that the problems run deep.

It is no secret that Pope Benedict was not always the best judge in his appointments to crucial curial positions. We must pray that Pope Francis—who as a former seminary rector is no push-over—will have the fortitude to see through a curial reform, for a Church that is seen as lacking in the highest ethics can neither effectively evangelise nor assert its moral authority.

In all these objectives and in his ministry as bishop of Rome, the pope will need our prayers.

May God bless our Pope Francis.