Thoughts on Pope Francis

Anyway, I don’t have much to offer other than superficial impressions concerning the election of Pope Francis, knowing about as much as you do at this time about the man. But, here goes –

First off, I was very shocked at the quickness of the selection of Cardinal Bergoglio as Pope. I guess I’m guilty of following conventional wisdom, which patted itself on the back saying the conclave would take at least ten days to come to a decision. And this was ostensibly religious media I was following. The witticism that you must deduct fifty IQ points from the mainstream media whenever they discuss anything at all religious is a very wise and pithy saying.

I really wished a younger man had been chosen, too. Someone in his late fifties / early sixties. Someone with vigor, seeing that Benedict resigned (or whatever the proper term is) due to an age-related inability to perform his shepherding duties. When I heard that Francis was 78, I was a little off-put. We’ll be doing this again in five or ten years, I thought somewhat cynically.

However, various sources I’ve read comment that he is quite healthy and quite energetic. I hope it’s not wishful thinking. Also, I heard something to the effect that a lot of cardinals chafed under the super-long (and very anomalous) reign of JP II. They don’t want lengthy papacies, whereas the Faithful (and not so-faithful) could view this this man as a mere placeholder Pope.

Me, I don’t know. With the right man at the right time (JP II), I wouldn’t mind a 30-year reign.

The fact that he is Argentinian, “American” only in the sense of not-European-African-Asian, means little to me. I am convinced he is Catholic, and that’s all that matters. Some are worried about this “Liberation Theology” nonsense that rooted in 80s Latin America, but I don’t think much of it. The media and contemporary American culture will soon enough hate the man for his Catholic positions on homosexuality, abortion, and contraception. You know, the Big Three for the Obama Generation.

I like the symbolism with the name “Francis.” Immediately St. Francis of Assisi comes to mind. Francis, the one-percenter who threw it all away for God, who “rebuilt” the Church, who loved the poor and infirm. Yes, that’s what’s needed today. Sweep all the filth out the door, the detritus who deserve those millstones around their necks, good riddance. But then what remains must be built up. There is another Francis, one that calls to this man’s Jesuit roots: St. Francis Xavier, missionary extraordinary. The Church must reach out to this upside-down world we live in, with love but with no compromise, and offer a better vision for humanity.

He’s a man who can’t be bent to fit easily into the American political spectrum: he’s not a Liberal (sorry, “Progressive”) and he’s not a Conservative. He’s written that adoption by gay parents is child abuse. He’s written that “unjust economic structures” cause poverty and inequality. Rachel Maddow and Sean Hannity would both condemn this man. But I wouldn’t.

So … I’d like to learn more about the man. Read something trustworthy on him, something biographical. Perhaps some of his sermons. I guess that’ll all come out soon enough. What I’ve read to date I like. What I’ve read concerning his desire to immediate roll up his sleeves and get to work “on the curia” I like even better. It should be an exciting and eventually next couple of years.

Bonus point – he has but one lung!