The newest pope, a humble, educated man-of-faith from Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been elected to replace Pope Benedict, who stepped down February 28th, during the recent conclave. He was born
Jorge Mario Bergoglio and has been a Cardinal since 2001 and has chosen to be called
Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, a well-respected saint by many people and not simply Catholics. Pope Francis is the 266th Pope in history and the first non-European in 1000 years! Pope Francis is, also, the first
Jesuit Pope to be elected.
One day in February, my husband asked me if I had heard that Pope Benedict was retiring. I just stared at him while there was a pause as I thought that news through. I asked confusedly, "wait... that's an option? A Pope can retire? I thought it was a lifetime position!" Patiently, my husband who was raised Catholic, explained that yes it is a lifetime appointment, but a man can choose to retire if the need arises. I asked when the Pope would retire and was told the end of February. I asked if a new Pope would be elected prior to his stepping down and hubby explained that no, that is not how it is done. There will be a conclave in March and then a new Pope would be elected. As I stood in a state of confusion, I just thought, ookkkaayyyy.... I suppose there is a tradition in doing things a certain way in the Catholic Church.
Today I was glued to the TV to see the white smoke appear after just the fifth vote then waited patiently for the new Pontiff to make an appearance. There was certainly a lot of Pomp and Circumstance prior to the arrival of the announcement, with crowds cheering while standing in the rain awaiting the announcement; the official band marched, guards stepped in time and were put into place, hearts raced and patience ensued within giddy excitement. Finally,
French cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran appeared after the red drapes opened with a flourish, coming forward and with the Latin words "Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam" ("I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope"), the 76-year old Pope Francis was announced to the waiting world.
Out of some 7-billion people in the world, there are 1.2-billion Catholics, and 7% of those Catholics live in the United States, which is a substantial amount compared to the 300-some million people living here. 75-million is a rather high percent of the population as a whole, and that doesn't count other Christians of varying faiths. When there is a new Pontiff that is BIG news!
Personally, I am a Christian with an Eastern-Philosophy bent but if I know anything, I realize that the religion isn't what is important, it is the underlying faith that is important. So today, faith has taken a leap forward in choosing such an honorable man who has lived simply all these years in an apartment, taking the bus and cooking for himself, to be the leader of a religion embraced by so many, many people.
`anmari has been spreading her infectious positivity throughout our community for over 6 years. Throughout this time Ana has been at the core of all things devious, passionately developing an eclectic gallery, helping organise devmeets, participating in chat events and also recently completed dedicating her time as a Community Volunteer. We are absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for May 2013 to `anmari, congratulations! Read More
Sta.sh
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Even despite the big buzz, I am usually totally indifferent about any kinds of "news" unless it directly involves me (and let's face it, that won't happen anytime soon unless I become more popular than the FOOKING PONIES, or WWIII is upon us). I just decided to stop by and say "Hi."
You can stop by anytime! I'm rather a news junkie. Even when I was little I would watch the evening news... saw news about Nam live! Scary. As you get older you may get more interested in the news of the day
I guess I'm just not educated in this sort of thing- I didn't know what a rosary was until a few weeks ago (turns out I got one free with a belt I bought