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CATHOLIC CHURCH

Francis I The New Pope

Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina now spiritual father to planet's 1.2 billion Catholics

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by David Mark

Editor-in-Chief t

Image: AP

Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina has been chosen as the new pope. He is the first people from the Western Hemisphere and will be known at Francis I.

The task of the College of Cardinals was to select a successor to Benedict XVI. To be chosen, a candidate had to win the support of at least two-thirds of the 115 voting-age cardinals.

Anticipation over the identity of the new pope began to build once a puff of white smoke emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, in Vatican City.

Bergoglio, now spiritual father to the planet's 1.2 billion Catholics, inherits a church wrestling with an array of challenges that intensified during his predecessor - from a priest shortage and growing competition from evangelical churches in the Southern Hemisphere where most of the world's Catholics live, to a sexual abuse crisis, to difficulties governing the Vatican itself.

Benedict, now pope emeritus, spent much of Tuesday watching the pre-conclave proceedings on television and secluded in prayer, said Rev. Frederico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman.

U.S. lawmakers quickly weighed in on the pope's selection. "Congratulations and best wishes to the new Pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio," tweeted Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.).

And Rep. Ron DeSantis (@RepDeSantis) wrote, "Congratulations to Pope Francis from Argentina. #HabemusPapam".

Via The New York Times, and Politix reporting.

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  • frigginhell
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    His name is Jorge and he's from Argentina, we know how god voted, for the white guy. They managed to get a white guy named Jorge from South America. Go figure.
  • View all 18 replies >
  • Denizen_Kate
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    It wasn't Napoleon, but Stalin, who asked that question. In any case, believer or not, Catholic or not, the Pope carries an enormous amount of clout throughout the world, so it does matter who they select.
  • View all 7 replies >
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    CullenBaker
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    @AceLuby that's good. You sounded like it was personal. I am not catholic either but they set great store in the Pope. I don't judge.
  • View all 92 replies >
  • Denizen_Kate
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    I would agree with the not caring bit, except that the Pope has a lot of clout throughout the world, so it does matter who they choose.
  • Maldonado1974
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    @Denizen_Kate I'm referring to when the church controlled the people in the mid evil days. The Catholic Church no longer control people. Jesus should b disappointed on how the church turned out. They turn a blind eye on sex offenders, really doesn't care about its sheep.
  • Denizen_Kate
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    @Maldonado1974 - I don't disagree, the Catholic Church doesn't rule as they once did, however, there are 1.2 billion Catholics around the world, and even if only half of them really adhere to whatever message is coming from the Pope, that's a lot of people.
  • Maldonado1974
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    @Denizen_Kate yes that is a lot of people, hope the 1.2 B take to heart any positive message the Pope might give. Good conversation thanks :D
  • FollowTheMoney
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    Excellent point. One of the main functions of organized religion is to band it's members together. Too bad our government can't do that. It seems intent on pitting us against each other with special interest.
  • PNWest
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    He seems like a man of the People. I hope that he can clean up the mess in the Vatican. Good luck Pope Frannie!
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    classychazy
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    I truly think with in the next 50 years a lot of these Southern Churches and the Catholic Church will be barely treading water to survive. People are turning their backs on organized religion do to what was listed above, but also scientific facts about how we all came to be. As a nurse and a human being I am a Wiccan I believe in reincarnation as well as other things. Even when attending Church regularly I was told and believed the Catholic Church to be a joke. Anyone that tells you, you can cheat, lie, steal, and commit child rape over and over again then just pop into a confessional, confess and be forgiven everytime is a little off in the head in my opinion.
  • GuyFawkes
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    I am highly disappointed in the sad, hateful and juvenile comments by many posters.
    Some border on a support for evil in the face of Righteousness.
    Shame on you. Shame.
    I am sorry to those of you who are Faithless. That is truly a lonely and despairing state.
    Faith. Charity. Hope. Love.
    These are Eternal.
    I am sorry for those who feel differently.
  • lawnmowrman
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    True the number of people that reject the existence of God is disturbing. Many, myself included, see the Catholic church as a cult. No man is holy or deserving of reverence and should never be referred to in that way, yet we hear terms such as holy Mary mother of God and holy Father being applied to people. How can we discount that?
  • ASmith
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    Bergoglio participated in Argentina's dirty war and is himself a war criminal. He handed over pro-democracy people to be murdered by the fascist regime, just as Pius XII collaborated with the Nazis and turned over jews. He also hid wanted war criminals after the end of the dirty war.
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    ASmith
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    @GuyFawkes - I see your reply was deleted, no doubt for good reason.

    You blathered, "focus on the message- not the messenger". When the messenger is a war criminal and a fascist, that IS the message being sent by the cardinals: fascism, hate, and cover up of pedophilia are okay with them.
  • View all 15 replies >
  • DARSB
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    So it was white smoke means we have a Pope, black smoke means we don't, and green smoke means Nicholas Cage is calling off the air strike on Alcatraz.
  • spluvsjp
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    Not Catholic, and maybe I am wrong, but this all happened really fast. For some reason I remember it taken a lot longer in the past. Glad for the Catholics. Hope they made a good decision in their choice. Seems like a tough job.
  • Ironicguy
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    I'm not a Catholic but it looks like the're finally leaving the 15th century, I'm not saying I'm glad they have a Hispanic pope, I just think it's good that after 2000 years the Pope wasn't born in Europe. That being said this feels like the 2008 election, America enslaved and discriminated against blacks =black president... Spanish Inquisition led by the Catholic church = Hispanic Pope
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    Gary_Owen
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    You should know that Spain was THE LAST European country to give in to the Vatican, which was the INSTIGATOR for all European Inquisitions; you should know that the Spanish Inquisition racked up much fewer victims than any others. For example, the Spanish Inquisition was run by lawyers, who demanded actual proof of heresy. In the case of WITCHES, it deemed that witchcraft was a DELUSION, and it refused to condemn and execute ANY witches. By comparison, in just a brief period, in the areas now known as Italy, Germany, France, over 150,000 hapless women were executed for witchcraft, often because other women were jealous of them for their beauty, red or blond hair. One victim would have been too many, but the Spanish Inquisition's victims numbered under 4,500. All meticulously recorded in the archives which are now open to scholars, and investigators. To break that down even further, about 1/3 of the Spanish Inquisition's victims were executed in absentia/en estatua (in effigy, since the accused had left the country); 1/3 were "executed" long after they were dead from natural causes ("relaxados en sus huesos"- a TV show called "Supernatural" had a scene very reminiscent of what that was like: the grave was dug up, the remains were doused in flammable liquid, and set on fire); and 1/3, the number that was actually present for the "trial", was given a chance to perform "penance", by wearing a San Benito and parading around bearing a sign proclaiming their particular offense/sin. If they refused that, then they were executed. Not condoning anything they did, but EXPLAINING it.
    If the reader has a chance/opportunity to get a hold of it, watch "The Myth of the Spanish Inquisition", an A&E/BBC/LionHeart Production (English). It is a LONG OVERDUE apology to Spain by England for 500 years of calumnies and slander. It's also worthwhile for the reader to note, that some of the Spanish Inquisition's most zealous
    officials were originally of Jewish ancestry, i.e. Tomas de Torquemada.(As am I). The Spanish Inquisition persecuted not only "marranos", persons who claimed to be Christian but practiced other religions, i.e, Judaism, Islam, in secret, but adulterers, pedophiles, homosexuals, etc. Again, not condoning, but explaining behavior that was going on all over Europe at the time, just as human sacrifices and cannibalism were made every day in what is now Mexico and Peru.
  • o
    Gary_Owen
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    Oh, not a slam against Hispanics, but this gentleman is AN ITALIAN. DNA speaks louder than place of birth. He is First Generation Argentine, with both of his Mother and Father being Italian Nationals. His flawless words in Italian, and his name should be the final clue. It's just like being born in Hawaii does not make President Obama an ethnic Hawaiian. He is the son of an American Mother and a Kenyan Father. Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio's selection was a masterful stroke. The Italian hard-liners got the Italian Pope of their choice, while ostensibly seeming to choose a "Hispanic" Pope. The reformers got a Jesuit, who promises to reform the Church. The Jesuits have had a long and stormy history of conflict with Vatican insiders due to the insiders' chronic "decadence" and departure from scripture. So everyone got a bit of what they wanted: An Italian Pope, albeit one born in Latin America, and a reformer, not part of the cliques of the Vatican. Like I said, a MASTERFUL choice.
  • o
    SomethinsFishy
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    The InquisitionS, plural, were led by the Vatican, which forced every European country into having one. In France, along the region once called Langue d'Oc (southern France), the combined forces of the Vatican and French Catholics massacred 2,000,000 Gnostic "heretics", including men, women and children. The Inquisition which was ultimately conducted in Spain pales by comparison to the rest of Europe's. The Inquisition were a Vatican wet dream, not any one European country's. It was the Vatican that forced European countries into conducting their own particular brand. The Pope is not Hispanic. Any more than President Obama is a Pacific Islander by virtue of his being born in Hawaii; or any more than John Sununu, ex-White House Chief under Reagan was Hispanic because he was born in Havana, Cuba; or any more than Charlize Theron is Black because she was born in Africa. Please wake up and smell the Cappuccino folks! lol You don't become a member of an ethnicity, race, color, etc. by being born in any particular geographical location. That's determined by your Mother and Father.
  • Ironicguy
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    Hey guys... Why are you so critical? I'm not an expert on Catholic history, I'm agnostic I was just saying change is good even if it's this small. And sorry I didn't know he was Argentinean born Italian. But I did post my comment not long after he was elected, I was assuming he was Hispanic.
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