Meet Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis I
Pope Francis I Stepping Onto the Balcony - The T-Room
Who is Pope Francis I? The Guardian is reporting –
The archbishop of Buenos Aires is a Jesuit intellectual who travels by bus and has a practical approach to poverty: when he was appointed a cardinal, Bergoglio persuaded hundreds of Argentinians not to fly to Rome to celebrate with him but instead to give the money they would have spent on plane tickets to the poor. He was a fierce opponent of Argentina’s decision to legalise gay marriage in 2010, arguing children need to have the right to be raised and educated by a father and a mother. He was created a cardinal by John Paul II on 21 February 2001.
Pope Francis I with Cardinal Protodeacon Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran & Cardinals
More from the Guardian –
In 2009 Bergoglio made headlines when he criticized the government of Ernesto Kirchner, husband of current Argentine president Cristina Fernandez, claiming it was “immoral, illegitimate and unjust” to allow inequality in the country to grow, writes Giles Tremlett.
“Rather than preventing that, it seems they have opted for making inequalities even greater,” he said. “Human rights are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination, but also by unfair economic structures that creates huge inequalities,” he said at the time.
Bergoglio is considered a conservative, according to Spain’s El Pais newspaper.
Noted for his austerity and for using public transport in Buenos Aires, he is considered unusually conservative for a Jesuit. He studied humanities in Argentina, philosophy in Argentina and later theology. He was already considered a candidate for pope in 2005. Modest and upright, he is also considered an intellectual heavyweight. He has also been very critical with corruption in his home country . He has also accused Argentina’s government of not doing enough to eradicate poverty.
After leading the hundreds of thousands in “Our Father” and leaving for quiet prayer, Pope Francis I asked the hundreds of thousands to pray in silence for him and his ability to lead the church.
Pope Francis I Waving Goodnight to Hundreds of Thousands of Supporters
UPDATE X1: From the Guardian – Reuters has a transcript of the first words from Pope Francis (h/t @nycjim):
Here is a transcript of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio’s first words as pope as translated by Reuters from the Italian.
Brothers and sisters, good evening. You know that the duty of the conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world to get him. But here we are.I thank you for this welcome by the diocesan community of Rome to its bishop. Thank you.
First of all, I would like to say a prayer for our bishop emeritus, Benedict XVI.Let us all pray together for him, let us all pray together for him so that the Lord my bless him and that the Madonna may protect him.
(The new pope then prayed the “Lord’s Prayer”, the “Hail Mary” and the “Glory Be” with the crowd in Italian).
He then continued:
And now, let us start this journey, bishop and people, bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome, which leads all the Churches in charity, a journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us.Let us always pray for us, one for the other, let us pray for the whole world, so that there may be a great fraternity. I hope that this journey of the Church that we begin today and which my cardinal vicar, who is here with me, will help me with, may be fruitful for the evangelisation of this beautiful city.
Now, I would like to give you a blessing, but first I want to ask you for a favour.Before the bishop blesses the people, I ask that you pray to the Lord so that he blesses me. This is the prayer of the people who are asking for the blessing of their bishop.
In silence, let us say this prayer of you for me.
(After a few seconds of silent prayer, he then delivered his blessing).
He then concluded:
Tomorrow I want to go to pray to the Madonna so that she protects all of Rome. Good night and have a good rest.
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Here are a few additional screen captures taken from CBS News livestream.
Pope Francis I Looking Onto St. Peter's Square
Pope Francis I Bowing During Silent Prayer
Pope Francis I Giving Thanks To His Parishioners & Supporters
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