White smoke and a first

I don't really care one way or the other, but he was not on any of the lists that I saw... but your wiki said he was a front runner last time (which I wonder how people would know since they take an oath not to tell)...

Also, a little older, so might not be having a long term....
 
Reputed to be LBYM, though obviously not RE!
 
Speaking as a former Catholic, I can say that the Jesuits have a reputation as the brainiest of the lot. That should be useful.

As for being from South America, I'm not as surprised. The old mold was broken when they picked a Polish pope, so the Italian dominance has ended permanently IMHO.

And I don't think his age is a drawback. With age frequently comes wisdom.
 
Guess being pretty much an agnostic, I just don't get the whole pope thing. I sincerely hope there is a higher power, and if there is I can't help thinking he/she or whatever is laughing at our foolish religious ways. Again, not to sound disrespectful but watching the proceedings today reminded me of the Wizard of Oz, the only thing missing was the flying monkeys. Yea, I know, I'm going to hell.
 
Texas Proud said:
... but your wiki said he was a front runner last time (which I wonder how people would know since they take an oath not to tell)...
Click to expand...

I was wondering that also. Who told? I heard breaking the oath could result in ex-communication.

-ERD50
 
frayne said:
Guess being pretty much an agnostic, I just don't get the whole pope thing. I sincerely hope there is a higher power, and if there is I can't help thinking he/she or whatever is laughing at our foolish religious ways. Again, not to sound disrespectful but watching the proceedings today reminded me of the Wizard of Oz, the only thing missing was the flying monkeys. Yea, I know, I'm going to hell.
Click to expand...

:flowers: couldn't find a FSM
 
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I really enjoyed watching the live broadcast on the BBC during the announcement. I'm a sucker for pomp and circumstance! Sounds like a LBYM kinda guy, too.
Congrats, Catholics! :)
 
MichaelB said:
Some would say Argentina is another Italian province. The most "European" country in Latin America.
Click to expand...
Not to mention that the new Pope Francis is Italian in ancestry; his father was born in Italy.

Frankly, almost everything about this pick suggests he was a "compromise/consensus candidate" both the old schoolers and the reformers could live with even if not the first choice of either side, and each of those sides may have decided they weren't going to "get their way" -- so they decided to cut the voting short and just picked a guy they could all accept. That he's quite old again (76) even after the last pope resigned after 8 years because of age suggests they were willing to "kick the can" for a few years!
 
I heard all the Argentinians simultaneously yelled "Gooooooooooool!" as soon as they heard the announcement.
 
Not really surprising. The Catholic church is a very alive and growing force in lower Africa and South America. Their cultures include a personal and group spiritual side to life that most Europeans and many Americans have either rejected or forgotten, IMHO.

I can't blame the Europeans given that centuries of war and injustice were justified in the name of god. I guess no body asked 'What would Jesus do?' just before marching out to war to kill the heathens, non-believers, heretics and papists! And we Americans have our own new god - money.
 
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