The new pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is the first-ever Jesuit pope and the first non-European pope of the modern era. He is the first to adopt the name Francis.
Pope Francis now leads the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.
Host Don Marsh spoke with a variety of guests to talk about the meaning behind Pope Francis’ selection and about some of the major controversial issues within the Church, including clergy sexual abuse, the role of women and same sex marriage.
Father Christopher Collins, Assistant Professor of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University joined Marsh. Collins is the author of "The Word Made Love: The Dialogical Theology of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI.”
The other guests on the program included:
- Javier Orozco, Director of Hispanic Ministry for the Archdiocese of St. Louis
- Barbara Dorris, Outreach Director of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests)
- Jennifer Reyes-Lay, Executive Director of the Catholic Action Network
Follow St. Louis on the Air on Twitter - @STLonAir