THERE IS HOPE FROM THE NEW POPE

1.2 Billion Catholic Christians from across the  globe can rejoice now ,for they have a new pope, Pope Francis, formerly, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina, however of Italian origin. It is almost 1400 years that a Pope came from outside Europe. The 266^th Pope of Vatican who is 76 years old has not been in the contention and had his return ticket booked to come back to Argentina for leading Easter mass. It is also a fact that the newspapers predicted more chances for Cardinals from Italy, US and Brazil. So for all devout Christians, Pope Francis, actually is a surprise package.

But as more news started coming out, it turns out that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was destined to be the Pope. In the last election of Pope, where the German Cardinal Ratzinger went on to become the Head of Vatican, as Pope Benedict the 16^th, the little muse tells that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio ran close to him and eventually prayed to the congregation of Cardinals then that his name be taken away from the contest. It is also a fact that when he turned 75 he had offered to resign from Cardinal’s post and the Papa had rejected his offer. In a way, one could call him a reluctant Pope.

Francis Pope came into priesthood little late but rose in the hierarchy very fast.  There is another specialty about him as he came from the Jesuit order which is normally overlooked when selection of Pope happens. He was truly committed to serve the poor and had shunned the Cardinal’s palace in Argentina to stay in an ordinary house and he took public transport to travel.  No wonder when he was elected to be the Pope, he took the name of Francis, taken from St. Francis of Assisi, the Saint who always worked for the poor and the downtrodden. Some year’s back, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio made history by washing the leg of 14 HIV patients in, prior to the Easter celebrations.

There are many things unique to Francis pope. During his childhood, due to health reasons, one of his lungs was removed and our Pope therefore is one lunged.  Francis Pope is a person of great humour. During the first dinner after he was elected as the Pope, he is said to quipped to the Cardinals, “Now that you had made the mistake of electing me, you must bear the brunt”!

In his approach to Christianity, Francis Pope is said to be a conservative. During the times when he was priest and Bishop, he was against Gay marriage and abortion. There is school of thought in Argentina that he did not fight for the lives of the young radicals who were disappearing from Argentina when the Military was ruling Argentina. He also said not to have high relations with the current Argentinean President, Christina. Argentina being a devout Christian country; however that would now turn out to be the problem of Argentinean President and not his.

It is generally believed that Pope Benedict the 16^th could not do much as the Pope due to the intense flux that the Catholics the world was undergoing. Though he had cited health reasons to abdicate the throne, this disillusionment also was said to be the reason for the former Pope to step down, something that happened after 600 years of Pope-dom.

Everyone believes that Papacy is in transition. With the world order undergoing rapid changes, and with people wanting inclusivity in all walks of life, it should be the endeavor of the new pope to concentrate his efforts for the upliftment of the poor. This is one message that the Francis Pope had already taken to heart. His initial announcements to the world had been “Church for the Poor” and therein lay the hope.

I am not a Christian and I am empathetic to all religions. I would like to highlight a comment of my wife when I opened the newspaper that day morning that carried the news of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio becoming the Pope.  Looking up at his foolscap photo on the vernacular daily, she instantaneously said, “What a saintly looking person”! That is something I readily concurred. Here is a Pope who in every sense is very saintly.  For someone who requests when meeting people “pray for me”, now he has responsibility of praying and working for one sixth of the world population. And that indeed is a tremendous responsibility for the first pope from Latin America

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By the way, what will happen to Mr. Francis Pope, an investment banker of Toronto, Canada and Dr Francis Pope, an Atmospheric Scientist from Birmingham University, UK? Someone had taken their name away. It won’t be life as usual for them. Looking at their business cards, eyebrows will get raised from now on and that is something these two gentlemen have to live with, though it would be a pleasant experience for both.