St. Peter holding the keys. (CNS/Paul Haring)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, was elected the 266th pope and took the name Francis.
The election March 13 came on the second day of voting, on the fifth ballot. It was a surprisingly quick conclusion to a conclave that began with many plausible candidates and no clear favorite.
The new pope was chosen by at least two-thirds of the 115 cardinal-electors from 48 countries, who cast their ballots in secret in the Sistine Chapel.
His election was announced in Latin from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to a massive crowd under the rain in the square below, and to millions watching around the world.
White smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney at 7:05 p.m., signaling that the cardinals had chosen a successor to retired Pope Benedict XVI. Two minutes later, the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica began pealing to confirm the election.
At 8:12 p.m., French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the senior cardinal in the order of deacons, appeared at the basilica balcony and read out in Latin: “I announce to you a great joy: We have a pope! The most eminent and most reverend lord, Lord Jorge Maria, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Bergoglio, who has taken for himself the name Francis.”
The crowd in the square responded with cheers, applause and the waving of rain-soaked national flags.
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Welcome Pope Francis. May God bless you as you lead His people!
Praise God!!
All glory to God Almighty for the gift of a new Pope. May His grace sustain the Mother Church and all her leaders.
Long live pope Francis I.
HE IS FRANCIS NOT FRANCIS 1, PEACE. Mar 2013 19:17:08 +0000 To: hfbhermitage@hotmail.com
Viva Papa Francis!!!
tHIS brought me to tears. Thank you God for giving us this beautiful man to fight the devil in our day and bring our church back to where it should be!
THANK YOU GOD!! The Holy Spirit answered my prayers and those of many, I am sure
When his name was announced, one commentator on NBC, off camera, said that “will make liberal bishops happy,” or, “liberals happy.” On another thread on another site, I read where he gave a speech in 2007 where he equated abortion to the death penalty which he opposes. Any comparison of abortion to capital punishment is false Catholic teaching. Capital punishment never has been and never will be a sin as carried out in America. Nobody who is associated with a capital punishment order from a juror to the executioner has ever committed a sin in doing so, nor will commit a sin in Catholic teaching. Capital punishment is punishment exercised in less than 3% of all capital crimes tried in U.S. courts. And it is used against offenders who murdered innocent people. Comparing the crime of abortion, which murders and innocent person, to capital punishment is foolish and irresponsible thinking.
well come man of spirit, the Lord’s Servant
When the cardinal proto-deacon announced the pope’s name, he said only the word “Francis.” This is in distinction to the announcement made when John Paul I was elected and the cardinal announced his name as John Paul I.
It seems presumptuous to use the ordinal number for the first person adopting a name because the ordinal, “First,” presumes a “Second” and maybe more. There are no other Francises at this time. Should a successor adopt this name, then the ordinal “Second” would be appropriate and we would then refer to the first Francis by using the ordinal.
In history the first queen named Elizabeth was referred to only by the name itself. Only after Elizabeth II became queen was it proper to refer to the first Elizabeth by using the ordinal to avoid confusion.
@Stillbelieve: Read your catechism a little more closely, and Evangelium vitae; and stop raining on our parade! Que vive el Papa Francisco!
I’d add a comment to Stillbelieve’s note about abortion and capital punishment. In a way abortion is a form of capital punishment because it is the taking of a life, in all cases the deliberate taking of an innocent life, whereas “capital punishment” is a term associated with punishment after trial of one guilty of a crime.
An objection I have to some in the Church condemning capital punishment is their failure to acknowledge history. For millenia capital punishment was considered justified in some circumstances because it is a punishment that is commensurate with the crime and is a form of retributive justice. I cannot justify an “evolution” in thinking that says one form of punishment now is immoral when it wasn’t so in earlier times.
“Evolving” is a term loved by liberals, for it justifies the overturning of any practice or proscription that they take it upon themselves to dislike. Liberals like to think of the American Constitution as “evolving.” That, to me, is just another way of saying “We don’t like what the Founders wrote so we’ll twist the meaning of their words and the context of those words to suit our own notions of government.”
This is precisely where the Catholics in the Democrat Party leadership stand. Take note of their support of the Administration’s attempt to force Catholic entities to violate their religious precepts.
And Joe Biden will go to Rome to attend the installation of the new pope! Why, we might justifiably ask.
@Duane: There is a legitimate development of doctrine that happens in the Church. Read Cardinal John Henry Newman. It is true that nothing that is morally evil will suddenly be ok, which would be the opposite of development (i.e., a corruption). However, that which was once taught to be ok can be understood, through doctrinal development, to be morally unacceptable, especially in light of circumstances, which affect the moral quality of acts/choices. This is the case with capital punishment. It is not equivalent to abortion, which is an intrinsic evil. But to say that it is not an intrinsic evil is not to say that it is a good. Pope John Paul II said in Evangelium vitae that in modern societies it is hard to see how one could justify capital punishment. As far as retributive justice is concerned: read the catechism of the Catholic Church with regard to capital punishment, and evangelium vitae as well.
Thank U̶̲̥̅̊ Jesus for giving U̶̲̥̅̊r a new pope jorge mario bergoglio who took †ђє̲̣̣̣̥ name pope francis . O̲̣̣̥ holy virgin mother mario intercede for him , that he will lead †ђє̲̣̣̣̥ holy mother church with wisDom. kudos †̥ †ђє̲̣̣̣̥. Catholic church and kudos. †̥ †ђє̲̣̣̣̥ new pope Francis 1.
We are blessed to have a Pope who is also a lover of animals. Hopefully the needless killing of our companions sent to us by God will stop and people will start supportingThe No Kill Movement!
Our fervent prayers are with you Papa!
yo soy de argentina. … colaboro con los militares en la dictadura que hubo en mi pais, asesino a un cura que habia vino de francia, y a 4 jesuitas los señalo y los militares los secuestraron y mataron. y ademas por televicion en mi pais, muchas veces bendecia las armas de los militares y le daba la estremaucion a los secuestrados antes que sea fusilados o tirados de los aviones al mar.
I’m from Argentina. … I collaborate with the military dictatorship that was in my country, murderer had a priest who came from France, and 4 pointed Jesuits and soldiers were abducted and killed. and also for my TV a country, often blessed weapons of the military and gave the last rites to the hostages before it is shot or thrown from planes into the sea.
Leonard Smith, JPII made an assumption that is not true. That has led to a mistake in his teaching on capital punishment. Google Operation Black Widow Pelican Bay Prison. You will read about a 3 year, $5,000,000 investigation by federal, state and local officials in the criminal justice system as to their ability to keep society safe from convicted criminals housed even in high tech, solitary confinement in a glass walled cell, guarded 24-7, with no contact with any other prisoners. It resulted in a 25 count indictment of 13 prisoners for murder, robbery, drug running, all outside of the prison.
Sounds to me like the issue is corruption in the prisons, then. Otherwise, who could escape such observation unless those guarding them were themselves criminals? In which case, reform of the prison system is the answer, not capital punishment. Anyway, a few examples to the contrary do not invalidate the principles upon which the teaching in evangelium vitae are based.
@Stillbelieve: You cannot say that JPII’s teaching in evangelium vitae is an error. He allows for the possibility that in some cases capital punishment would be acceptable. To say that it is diffiuclt to see how it would be acceptable is NOT to say that it would NEVER be acceptable.
With respect to using the proper name of our Pope, please revise this article using the name Pope Francis. In history, he will not be referred to as being Pope Francis I unless there is someday a Pope Francis II. Thank you.
Leonard Smith, did you google Operation Black Widow? The $5,000,000 investigation did not find error in the prison system, but the genius of evil that can’t be defeated in people who have nothing but time on their hands with no harm that can come to them. If the very highest security can not prevent all harm to society then JPII and his teaching are in error concerning capital punishment. It is nice that “he allows for the possibility that in some cases capital punishment would be acceptable,” but such an exception is based on his “assumption” that such cases would be rare. What evidence does he present to substantiate this “assumption.” Is it based on an extensive investigation of penal systems around the world? Or even penal systems in highly developed countries such as the U.S. who he implies are capable of building such 100% secure prisons? No, he does not provide such evidence because it doesn’t exist. His effort to include CP in the pro-life teaching was a mistake of judgment on his part, over extending the “consistent ethic of life” which includes all the other so-called “social justice” prudential judgment issues. Capital punishment never has been a sin, and never will be as carried out in the U.S. Connecting it to abortion, lessens the seriousness of abortion, enabling so many Catholics to remain giving their name and support to the pro-abortion Democrat Party which is solely responsible for keeping abortion-on-demand the law of the land.
@Stillbelieve: OK. BTW, I’m a Pro-Life Republican. And I think Pope John Paul II is correct. It is Catholics who ignore the teachings of the Vicar of Christ who endanger the faith.
Well enough. And I’m a South Chicago born, Irish Roman Catholic, former Democrat whose older brother was VP of the Cook County Young Democrats who introduced Senator JFK, the Democrat nominee for President, to a large crowd in the town center during the 1960 election; and whose uncle was an Archbishop stationed in Rome. I mean no disrespect for JPII, but his changing the Church’s long standing position on capital punishment without basing it on the facts is an injustice to the pro-life cause, causing a lot of confusion in the minds of the faithful which enables so many Catholics to continue to give their name and support to the pro-abortion Democrat Party which gives that party the elective power to keep abortion legal.