This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 13, 2013 - Argentinian Jesuit Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the new pope. He is the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, the first non-European pope since the early centuries when there were African popes.
Not even the Jesuit weekly America had him on their list of profiled candidates.
He is 76, and is humble priest who moved out of the Argentine archbishop's traditional residence and lived in an apartment in a poor neighborhood. He got rid of the chauffeur and drove his own car.
He just might be like the humble pope in the late St. Louis University Jesuit Father William Barnaby Faherty’s novel "Pope Octavio" who drove a Volkswagen and lived with the poor.
Previous article: Earlier a grey-haired, slightly balding, fine-boned, 69-year-old cardinal wearing wire-rimmed glasses appeared on the loggia, high over the central doors of St. Peter’s Basilica.
He was not the new pope.
He’s the Vatican proto-Cardinal-deacon Jean-Louis Tauran, a Vatican diplomat from Bordeaux, France.
In Latin Tauran was expected to say "I announce to you a great joy, we have a pope." Those last four words in Latin are the famous "Habemus Papam."
Tauran then was to announce the man’s full titles in Latin "Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum, Dominum." Then, at last he would say the pope’s first name.
Listen to him carefully. The new pope’s first name is not Emmet, though it may sound like that.
Don’t be confused. It will be the Latin name not the name the man is called. For example, if the pope is Sri Lanka's Albert Malcolm Ranjith, Tauran’s will announce “Albertus.”
The first name may not be enough to identify the man.
At least, two men called Peter would be announced as Petrus: Ghana’s Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, and Budapest’s Peter Erdo.
In Latin, Tauran will continue with the man’s Cardinal title “Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem” before giving his defining surname. Tauran won’t Latinize the last name, so it should ring clear.
Quickly continuing, he will give the name the new pope wishes to be called.
Will it be another John Paul? Another Benedict? Either would honor the previous man to bear the name and likely mark the continuation of those popes’ ideas.
Might it be John XXIV, a nod to the humble convener of Vatican II?
Will it be another Leo indicating a man steeled for social justice like the great Leo XIII? Or might it honor the Irish Saint Patrick?
At this point in the proceedings, all are still in the dark except for 115 cardinals, a few bell ringers and other staff helpers who can whisper in the loggia.
Seconds after his name is announced, the new pope will walk onto the loggia. He’ll bless, then, address the thousands jammed into St. Peter’s Square and the millions watching on television via the Vatican’s own video streaming.
The man has probably not had much time to compose the address -- only a few ballots to consider it as his votes piled up to the 77 required. The tradition is for him to speak in Latin, but John Paul II chose to speak in Italian softening the shock to Italians in the square that he was the first non-Italian pope in centuries.
In this electronic age, a person might wonder why there is any delay. The cardinals are still sharing their time with the man they elected to one of the world’s toughest jobs.
As the world waits, the pope is seated in a chair near the Sistine Chapel altar as each of the 115 cardinals walks forward to stand before him individually and pledge his support.
The conversation can be personal. Just before leaving his home in Knoxville, Tenn., Cardinal Justin Rigali, a former St. Louis and Philadelphia archbishop, recalled bowing before the new Benedict XVI in the final hour of the conclave on April 19, 2005. The new pontiff amazed him. It was Rigali’s birthday and Benedict had the presence of mind to wish Rigali a Happy Birthday.
The wait also honors a Roman tradition. Time must be allowed for Romans see the sort-of-white smoke puff up from the temporary chimney in the Sistine Chapel roof.
Thousands will drop their chores and rush to St. Peter’s Square. They are much like the British who waited on London streets to glimpse the wedding procession of William and Kate, proudly proclaiming that their grandparents saw Queen Elizabeth on Coronation Day and that their great-greats saw Queen Victoria. Native Romans can trill back a dozen popes that their families greeted on announcement days.
On foot they will fill the bridges over the Tiber River. They’ll clog the stairs up from the Ottaviano Metro Stop and speed walk the five-blocks south to St. Peter’s Square.
In the lead will be youngish Italian nuns in black running shoes, many wielding umbrellas. Do Italian convents only recruit from high school girls’ track and field teams? Ask any tourist to Rome who’s had nuns outrun them to see the pope.
Today is their day to sprint and scream the name of the new pope.
READ MORE
Vatican reveals secret behind white smoke. | Telegraph
Benedict won't attend inauguration of successor. | NewsMax
List of previous popes. | Original Catholic encyclopedia
Watch the announcement live. | CNN
Patricia Rice is a freelance writer.