New Pope's Name
 

I was thinking John Paul III might be an option, but that's a lot to live up to in terms of JPII's personal popularity.

I'm watching the balcony cam at abcnews.go.com/live and anxious at every little movement of the curtains, even though I'm also a person who has fallen away.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Pope Francis I. I kinda like it!

Pope Francis I!

Meaning the predictions I relied on were totally off, lol.

Interesting that a Jesuit chose the name Francis.

ETA: And Kevin, he may not be Italian, but he's 76.

His parents were Italian, so maybe Kevin gets 1/2 credit?

Maybe after St. Francis Xavier?

No, I'd say that's 3/4 credit. :D

Maybe so -- I didn't think about that. Having more interaction with Franciscans than Jesuits, my brain went straight to St. Francis of Assisi.

That's what I was thinking too.

That makes two of us. The news is saying he was 2nd in line (whatever that means) at Pope Benedict's election so it that's true, then this really isn't a surprise.

Maybe is name is after St. Francis Assisi because of his love for the poor?

Te Deum Laudamus! A Jesuit who has taken his regnal name from St. Francis Xavier, arguably one of the greatest Jesuit Saints, known as the Apostle to the East!
Gaudete omnes! Habemus Papam! Deo Gratias!

So did I, granted I went to St. Clare for K-8th grade. Seems like a lot of people are thinking that or at least the media. Like ADPiEE said, he is big on social justice especially with the poor. However, St. Francis Xavier also made a vox of poverty so who knows.

Yeah, I'm seeing reports that it's for St. Francis of Assisi too, but I can't help but wonder if they're just assuming like I did.

I'm on team Asisi too...

I like the Italian form better- I want to call him Pope Francisco!

There's a Facebook meme going around showing black smoke- no Pope, white smoke- new Pope, blue smoke in the shape of a bird- Tweeted that there's a new Pope. I would post it, but I can't find it again...

Do you think the cardinals go into it with their "pope" names picked out?

Well, to add to the mix, apparently St. Francis Solano, a Franciscan who was educated by Jesuits and a missionary to South America and is known as the Wonder Worker of the New World, is patron saint of Argentina (and Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru). That had to have factored in.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the Francis is for all three St. Francises. Maybe St. Francis de Sales too?

"Pope Francis chose his name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi because he is a lover of the poor, said Vatican deputy spokesman Thomas Rosica."

Well there we go, then. Thanks, Belle.

To answer amIblue, on tv they have mentioned cardinals go-in with a name in mind (should they be chosen) because it is the second immediate question they are asked after they are voted-in.

I have been HOPING for a Pope Francis...got my wish!

Thanks! It seemed like they knew the name quickly.

What's the first? And couldn't they just ask God real quick?

The first is if he will accept the papacy.

For some reason, this really made me laugh! It IS a valid question, though. Maybe priests make lists of their "Pope Names" like women make lists of the names of their future children? :)

I love Francis I (even though I was originally pulling for John Paul III) because Francis of Assisi is my favorite saint (Make me a Channel of Your Peace is my alltime favorite hymn).

Technically, he's just Pope Francis. You don't have a "I" until you have a "II".

Wonder if Francis will come back into fashion . . . I told a friend who has sons named Dominic and Benedict that "Francis Friend'slastname" had a nice ring to it!

For some reason I think of this movie scene when I hear the name "Francis":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuQDYOrh5wM

And "All Creatures of our God and King," which is a paraphrase of Francis's Canticle of the Sun, is mine.

One thing that came to mind as I thought about the name is another aspect of St. Francis -- the part where he had the vision in San Damiano church in which the icon of Jesus on the cross spoke to him and said "Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins." Though at first Francis took this literally and started working to repair the church, he and Franciscans since understood it was a command to work to renew the Church. As Pope Benedict XVI described it, "At that moment St. Francis was called to repair the small church, but the ruinous state of the building was a symbol of the dramatic and disquieting situation of the Church herself. At that time the Church had a superficial faith which did not shape or transform life, a scarcely zealous clergy, and a chilling of love."

This was the aspect that analysts, including a spokesman from the Vatican Press Office, were talking about on CNN last night. They thought this was the real message behind the name, and they thought the choice of the name "Francis" was much bigger news than the first pope from the Americas -- they saw it as the big news of the day (aside from the election itself, of course). As John Allen, the CNN analyst who called the choice "stunning" put it, the Catholic Church has always had two faces -- the institutional, somewhat majestic face exemplified by the papacy, and the humble, charitable, down-in-the-trenches face, which St. Francis perhaps more than anyone else exemplifies. Sometimes, he said, the two faces are closer together, sometimes they are far apart. But the choice by a pope to use the name "Francis," he said, signaled a desire that the "institutional face" mirror the humble, charitable face. Per Allen, "The new pope is sending a signal that this will not be business as usual."

Just to show my "Southern side", when someone yesterday mentioned the new Pope was to be Francis I, I replied that "You know, it's a very popular silver pattern."

Love this idea.

I have to say, this is one of my favorite prayers.

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.


O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

Ah, beautiful piece! Sung at Diana's Funeral in 1997, and I still have the audiotape recording of the music from her service.

Of course you did, darlin. It's an assumption many of us Southern girls make.

;)

I'm headed to Rome this weekend and will actually be attending Pope Francis's investiture mass thanks to my friend's cousin--this Jewish girl is very excited!

A joke - courtesy of Catholic Memes
 

Very cool. Enjoy!

From a service and educational standpoint, I'm very excited to have a Jesuit pope. Francis is still a little too conservative for me (a comment he's made in the past about adopted children of gay couples was a form of child abuse rubbed me wrong), but I doubt we ever see the Catholic church be accepting of gay lifestyles. Just one of the few things I disagree with my church on, I guess. But I think I like him.

And the firsts just keep on a-comin'!
 

Fantastic news and a great step forward to unity! Oremus omnes!