The new pope opened with a joke. Not so much a kneeslapper, just a lighthearted, self-deprecating reference to his brother Cardinals needing to go to ends of the Earth to find a new Bishop for Rome. "But," he continued, "Here we are..." With that Argentinean born Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, made his first address as Pope, the first pontiff from the Americas, the first from the service oriented order of Jesuits, and the first to take his name from St. Francis Assisi.
Pope Francis's unpretentious, personal and inclusive words contrasted with the maximal pomp and secrecy as white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel signaling that the College of Cardinals had elected one of their own to be what faithful Catholics regard as a conduit of Divine will. There are of course more questions than answers about what this new pontificate will mean for Catholics and for those beyond the church. Who this Pope is and will become goes well beyond this opening speech and his well-attested reputation for eschewing the trappings of luxury and devoting energy and passion for the poor. Still, the motto he chose for his Archdiocese is powerful: miserando atque eligendo - "lowly, but chosen."
