The new Pope is hard at work doing the humble thing and trying to stop sex abuse, but that might not be enough to resolve the gap between the views of the Obama administration — and, increasingly, American Catholics — on contraception and the Church's vehement stance against it.
Pope Francis I held his first audience with reporters Saturday morning since surprising everyone Wednesday as the choice to succeed departing Benedict as new Pope. He seemed to dazzle reporters with his humility and humor. Oh, one other thing: he really wants the church to go broke.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was accused of rigging plenty of elections in his day, but his successor thinks he might have also decided one very important vote from beyond the grave.
So, just like the show Lost, we've now seen the white and black smoke, met our new leader, and yet we still have no idea how we got here, really. Which is to say: Pope watch is officially over, and thank God for that. Things got kind of embarrassing near the end.
Today's election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the papacy is notable for two big reasons: he's the first non-European, and the first ordained member of the Society of Jesus, to occupy the highest seat of the Roman Catholic Church, both of which upend millennia of precedent.
As Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio emerged Wednesday at a joyous Vatican and took the papal name Francis, there was no joy on Facebook for guys with the name Francis Pope — or Frank Pope, for that matter. We got in touch with one, and he's used to it.
After five ballots and just over a day, the 115 cardinal electors have selected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the new successor to the Apostle Peter and head of the Catholic Church. He will assume the papal name Francis. Here's what you need to know.
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