Pope Time for Francis

So it appears that I was incorrect, but not by much. I had been thinking that the papal conclave would pick an Italian to be the next pope. Instead they pick an Argentinian who is the son of Italian immegrants. Sort of Italian-Not Italian (mmmm... Procaccini's).

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has taken the papal name of Francis (in honor of Francis of Assisi). The lack of a Peter in either his given name or his papal name will throw the St. Malachy folks for a loop, although they seem to be gloming on pretty hard to the fact that he is of Italian heritage, even if he is not Italian himself.

It is unlikely that Francis will change much of anything other than appearance. In Benedict XVI, the church had the equivalent of an ivory tower egghead; someone who enjoyed theology and debate. Francis has given the impression that he is interested in getting out to the people (a doer rather than a thinker). We shall see if anything comes of that.

At the very least, Francis has a lot of firsts going for him. In addition to the first pope named Francis, he is the first from the western hemisphere and obviously the first from South America. He is also the first Jesiut pope, which should give the anti-Catholic conspiracy folks a field day. Should be fun to watch.