Stasera l’argentino Jorge Mario Bergoglio è diventato Papa Francesco I. Commenti dagli States: dalla “vita austera e attenta ai poveri” ai riflettori sull’Emisfero Sud del mondo e l’altra parte dell’Atlantico. Dall’accusa di complicità con la dittatura argentina al gabbiano sul comignolo.
The new Pope Francis I
Today at 7.00 pm Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pontiff as Francis I.
The Washington Post reports: “It’s highly significant for what Francis means,” said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, referring to Saint Francis of Assisi, who was known for his total vow of poverty. “It means that he is here to serve.”
Who? – “Francis is known as a humble man who spoke out for the poor and led an austere life in Buenos Aires”, The New York Times wrote. “He was born to Italian immigrant parents and was raised in the Argentine capital”.
“The first Latin American pope, is a theological conservative with a strong social conscience – said The Chicago Tribune – and a modest man who declined the archbishop’s luxurious residence to live in a simple apartment and travel by bus”. The journalist talked with Roberto Crubellier, 65, a church employee in a downtown Buenos Aires church where Bergoglio used to go and pray.”He was always a very pleasant and accessible person,” said the man, “he used to walk from the cathedral (about 10 blocks) and he stayed, praying silently in the last rows of pews, as though he was just an ordinary guy.”
Time reports 14 points to know more about Mr. Bergoglio. Thank to this we know that, of course, “he had been Archbishop of Buenos Aires since 1998, and a cardinal since 2001”, but also that “he only has one lung. His second got infected when he was a teenager, and it had to be removed”.
Finally, “shortly before the 2005 Conclave that ultimately elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI, a human rights lawyer filed a criminal complaint against Bergoglio, accusing him of having been complicit in the 1976 kidnappings of two priests, Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics, by Argentina’s military dictatorship. Bergoglio, who had been superior of the Society of Jesus of Argentina at the time, completely denied the claim”. (Also the Chicago Tribune spoke about this fact).
The former Cardinal Bergoglio is “a fan of the Buenos Aires soccer team San Lorenzo, which was founded by a priest,” Bloomberg News reports.
In 2010, Reuters explains, Cardinal Bergoglio made his opposition to a gay marriage bill public in a letter, just days before it was approved. “Let’s not be naive. This isn’t a simple political fight, it’s an attempt to destroy God’s plan,” he wrote.
Papa Latinos – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the Argentina’s president, posted on Twitter the government congrats for the elections. She hopes he’s gonna rule in order to improve justice, equality, brotherhood and peace.
Mr. Obama, instead, was more warm: “As a champion of the poor and the most vulnerable among us, he carries forth the message of love and compassion that has inspired the world for more than two thousand years — that in each other we see the face of God”. “As the first pope from the Americas, his selection also speaks to the strength and vitality of a region that is increasingly shaping our world, and alongside millions of Hispanic Americans, those of us in the United States share the joy of this historic day.” (New York Times)
“The choice, on the second day of deliberations by a papal conclave, opened a direct connection to the Southern Hemisphere at a critical juncture – the Washington Post wrote- when secularism and competing faiths are depleting the church’s ranks around the world and dysfunction is eroding its authority in Rome”.
“With its approximately 480 million adherents, Latin America is home to an overwhelming plurality of the world’s Catholics. By choosing him, the cardinals sent a strong message about where the future of the church may lie” (CNN. The headline underlines the humility shown by the new pontiff: “Pope Francis: Bless me”).
Sea Gull – Someone noticed it, on the top of the chimney, while people in St. Peter Square were waiting for the white fluff. Cbs News recollected all the interpretation of this “event” (Was it “Joke or symbolism?”)
USlessons# 