He's 76, from Buenos Aires, and like I said in the other thread, he's a traditional conservative when it comes to abortion and same sex marriage. No surprise there. Anyone hoping for gay marriage or abortion inside the confines of the Church is pipe dreaming. It will NEVER happen.

He is Argentine but he was an Italian immigrant. In argentina he travels by public transportation. A pope of the people

Behold the man.

Congratulations to pope Francis the first! And though most on here know I'm not religious, I wish him good luck and I hope his papacy is successful, and you're right pizza boy, despite hope among some I don't think there will ever be a Pope who bends on the traditional conservative values.

He is the son of Italian immigrants. He was born in Buenos Aires.

His Wiki page seems fairly accurate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis

Anyway, I'm pleased by this choice. South Americans make up a huge percentage of the faithful, so it's great that they're finally represented. But like Richie says, Pope Francis has Italian blood .

The best we can hope for is the acceptance of others, and that we won't shun anyone in the future based on their sexual inclination. But you'll never see abortion or gay marriage in the Catholic Church. Not in the last 2000 years. Not in the next 2000 years.

No argument there. No one should be denied entrance into any religion based on race or sexuality. But it took the catholic church years to apologize for things like the crusades and the inquisition. But marriage and abortion are two things that isn't changing

Thanks Richie, i was just going to ask if that was an Italian name.

My mother is so happy about this you have no idea. She's calling me every 5 minutes. lol

I don't know much about the new Pope but i wish him well and hope he can straighten out some of the Church's problems.

76? I thought they might go for a younger guy but i guess not.

Vatican just admitted that their salvation lies not in the West, but in the 3rd World.

If they had elected an African Pope, my neighbors would go nuts. Not just a black President, but now a black Pope? WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?!?!

But yes pb is right. Same old shit in the rotting corrupt cesspool that is the Church, which is a great shame. Congrats dude, you get to captain the Titanic.

I hate to say it, but that is so true. Alot of people would of freaked out over it.

Congrats to Pope Francis

I heard on the news he's not really a Vatican insider so it'll be interesting to see how he'll handle the papacy.

They must be the true Christians.

I wish Pope Francis the best in his endeavors. He seems to be a bit shy.

Yes, me too. He has alot of hard work ahead of him and i wish him well.

I'm really not up on the structure of the Vatican, but does a new Pope get to bring in all new people to help him run things at the Vatican. In other words will some of the old timers presently at the Vatican be removed?

The Pope has almost unlimited authority. Any limits are a function of Church law.

Very happy for Pope Francis. Looking forward to his leadership and wish him the best in the future.

From that viewpoint, you can make the argument that Pope Francis is a compromise. Because although he was born in South America, his parents were Italian. So it pacifies the West and the Third World at the same time.

Oh, and for the record, I think you meant their future lies in the Third World. Our salvation lies in Christ .

Argentina is not a third world country (think of Somalia, Haiti, etc as the proper use for that phrase), it is a developing country.

Sorry, its my politics/economics education kicking in lol

A frat brother of mine who spent a semester down in Argentina during college, equated it to a "developing country with first world skin (European)".

argentina makes some great wine!

Tell me about it, great women too!

thick at the hips, and quiet at the lips!

Very historic day for the Church. First pope from the southern hemisphere; first pope from the western hemisphere; and just as intriguing, if not more so, the first Jesuit pope. The Jesuits, an order founded on the solemn ideal of loyal service to the pope, now has one of its own as the Vicar of Christ. They are the scholars of the Church and have had a dynamic influence in the world.

By the way, the title of the thread is a little off. The Pope will be known as Pope Francis. He will only be referred to as Francis the First after a subsequent pope adopts the name Francis II. Let's hope our Argentine pope will go down in history as Francis the Great.

Incidentally, Nostradamus predicted this would be the last Pope.

What amazes me is that there has never been a pope named after Saint Francis of Assisi before. When I first saw text that read "Pope Francis I" on a TV news show at the coffee shop today, I figured it was a typo for "Pope Francis IX" or something.

Most all I have to say has already been voiced by other posters.

But still, I wish the new Pope had been someone younger. From what I heard on the news this evening, those who are close to him say he has already been slowed by age.

He's 76. Will there be a new conclave within just a few years?

I honestly thought the Cardinals might go for someone just a little bit younger this time around (like, under 70...).


Signor V.

That's what we need some Juvenal delinquent who is under 70. Funny thing is I am pretty sure I will never make it to 70.

But listening to the things he did as a cardinal. Maybe you have to be old so you can get the tools you need to be a Pope?

Don't forget Argentina puts out some pretty good soccer players as well as women and wine.

Do we get a new Santa Claus too?

Just saw an interview with cardinal Egan. He is a friend of the new pope. He said right after 9/11 when the pope was still a cardinal he came to the US to see if he could help in any way.

Egan said he the pope loves classical music. So Egan would send him tapes. Egan Can not vote because he is too old 83. We should all look so good at 83. He also said if Francis was younger he would have been on his short less. So he thinks he was a little old to have been picked.

Egan left Rome early but before he left he met with the Cardenas from Argentina and asked him if he was going to come to the Us in the future. He said he would come.

Danito I never let God or religion interfere with my fun. But I never made fun of anyone's religion either.

When I was in tge hospital the first time for leg infection. I had the room mate from hell. It did not take me long to dislike the guy.

My kids are in my hospital room visiting me.

Then a women from another religion comes in and asks me if she could pray for me. So I say sure because I like to cover all the bases just in case.

Then she ask the room mate from hell if she can pray for him. He evidently said yes. I could not see him because the curtain was closed enough so I could not see him.

But I could see the women praying over him. Then all of a sudden she puts her hand over her eyes while she is praying. Then she leaves. As my kids left I asked my oldest son if the room mate from hell did anything while the women was there.

He did not want to tell me because he knows I got a temper. The room mate from hell exposed himself to her while she was trying to pray for him.

I went a little wild on the guy. I told him don't sleep because if you do I will take my intravenous stand and put it through your head one night.

Finally they put him in another room. The day my wife came to get me out of the place. While she was paying the bill I got dressed and visited my former room mate from hell. He was by himself and he was sleeping. Before I left his room I put him into a bigger deeper sleep.

Want to know his religion. It doesn't really matter does it he definately was tge room mate from hell