Habeamus papem

No of Argentina Francis the first. A Jesuit. The first black pope ( black as in the Jesuits the head of their order is known as the black pope)

His cummerbund looks too loose!

Watching it live now Galen
He seems to have a pleasant face.

I liked his talk to the crowd. Think they may have a good one this tiime

I am not Catholic but think he sounds good. He has taken the name of a saint known for simplicity and a man of the people. Apparently he goes to work on the bus and cooks for himself....or has done. Here's hoping.

I will be 76 in July and it is too old to be elected to such an important role in the world of religion or politics. Our faculties do not stay sharp enough for such a demanding role (sits back and waits for howling protests)

I'm not a RC either. 76! That's nothing, you should meet my 92year old aunt! She'd make mincemeat out of you

As a Jesuit he should be able to outmanoeuvre the Curia!

Travelling by bus and cooking for himself is all very commendable ..... I'm more interested in knowing his actions and words during Argentina's military dictatorship.

Poor man, after living in one room doing his own cooking and travelling on the bus, his new life is going to take some getting used to.

I bet the Falkland Islanders are thrilled to bits

You don't know! He might agree with them.

It's quite apt he is from Latin America as that's where a huge proportion of the world's Catholics are. I like the fact that he did his own cooking and travelled by bus, and has taken the name of my favourite saint St Francis of Assisi. I don't think he spoke out when Argentina was living under a military junta and many political dissenters disappeared, perhaps he couldn't. I gather he has done a lot for the poor. I do hope that he will be a reformer and do something about the ongoing child abuse within the church and re-evaluate the church's position on contraception.

Galen Your aunt and the new Pope may well be exeptions to the rule but I stand by my original assessment that he is too old and it will not be long before the same scenario is played out again.

Not RC either. Disappointed that Cardinal Turkson from Ghana was not chosen. He seemed a good'un. He was born in '48 and had years on his side.

This papa may be a sort of stepping stone to a real black pope?

I wanted Sicola to win - then he would have been Pope Sicola (no - I know he would have taken another name - it just made me smile when my son said that)

Let's hope Pope Francis isn't too old to do some real good.

Deus volente!

I'd hoped for someone younger, but, one assumes, the will of God.

Oops, sorry Galen, think that's what you said!

Perhaps they just wanted an older man as a stop-gap - I don't think he is likely to be a great reformer.
42% of the world's Catholics live in South America, so it seems fitting to choose a pope from there.
The Catholic Church was not very outspoken against Hitler either!

Yip! But showing off! In Latin!

merlotgran Given that he is such a conservative, he won't upset the Falkland Islanders because he has already fallen out with Christina Fernandez de Kirchener over abortion, artificial insemination and free contraception.