‹ All Articles

White Smoke: Pope Francis I

Saint_Francis_of_Assisi_by_Jusepe_de_RiberaThe Catholic Church selected the new Pope, Francis I.  He’s the first non-European pope.  He’s from Argentina (but his parents are Italian).  Pre-pope name: Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

I know everyone is asking,

Why did it take so long to select an non-European pope?”

It took over 2000 years (although, Peter, the first “pope,” wasn’t European).

Yes, that’s a great question, but let’s applaud this bold move outside of “The Continent.”

My question is,

 

“Why did it take so long for a pope to take the name of Francis?”

The new pope is named after one of my heroes of faith, Francis of Assisi (1181-1226).  (See God Behaving Badly, pages 91-92).  Francis valued a simple lifestyle (see image), a focus on Jesus and a connection to God through creation that the Church could learn a lot from today.

I don’t know much about Pope Francis I (he’s 76- so he may not be around long), but I really like his choice of a name.

What do you think of the new Pope?  

 

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.