After 13 days of suspense, 2 days of conclave and the fifth ballot, the World finally gets a Pontiff - Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Buenos Aires, Argentina, the new Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
He becomes the 266th and the first non-European Pope.
The new Pope also officially adopted Pope Francis I as his papacy name with his inaugural Mass slated for next Tuesday, 19th March, 2013.
See Nine (9) key facts about the new Pontiff after the cut:
2) He trained as a chemist.
3) He is the first non-European Pope in the modern era.
4) He claims that adoption by homosexuals is a form of discrimination against children but believes that condoms "can be permissible" to prevent infection.
5) In 2001, he washed and kissed the feet of Aids patients in a hospice.
6) He speaks fluent Italian, as well as Spanish and German.
7) Until now he has been living in a small flat, eschewing a formal bishop's residence.
8) He told Argentinians not to travel to Rome to celebrate if he was appointed but to give their money to the poor instead (very noble :) ).
9) Though conservative on church doctrine, he has criticised priests who refuse to baptise babies born to single mothers.
Culled from Leadership Newspaper
Excerpt from new Pontiff's first speech as Bishop of Rome:
"And now let us begin this journey, the Bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome which presides in charity over all the Churches, a journey of brotherhood in love, of mutual trust. Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole World that there might be a great sense of brotherhood".
and so the journey begins
ReplyDelete