Sign of a renewed spirit

Francis of Assisi, the son of a wealthy 13th century cloth merchant, was known for giving up all of his worldly possessions to live a life of poverty and purity. He chose to die a pauper, lying on the floor of a leaky cabin, and after his death, he became St. Francis. One of the orders he founded during his life, the Franciscan Order, grew significantly, especially after the discovery of the New World. Across the ocean in that New World, from another thriving order, the Jesuits, hails the new pope, Francis.

After Pope Benedict XVI's surprising recent resignation, the smell of change was in the air. The word "reform" was heard again and again. The Catholic Church stood at a crossroads. Issues such as gay marriage, abortion, condom use, corruption, fiscal non-transparency and especially the pedophilia scandal cast a dark shadow over the church's performance and image. Fewer and fewer believers were attending mass on Sundays in the Old World of Europe.

Thirty-six percent of all the faithful Catholics in the world live in South America, where the church continues to flourish. The day after Benedict announced his retirement, we wrote in this very paper: "Speaking of South America, there, people were probably in shock. In Mexico, the faithful wept. Until the next pope is elected, many of the faithful feel as if God has abandoned them. In light of the current state of affairs in the church, it seems only right that the next pope come from the continent where the cross spared no means."

The choice of the modest Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as Pope Francis is already a sign of the new spirit the Vatican seeks to instill. Even if the new pope is a known conservative who fanatically opposed same-sex marriage in his home country.

Argentina rejoiced: The world has a new pope and he is Argentine, and this only 24 hours after they lost the Falkland Islands to Britain in a referendum. As a bonus, Argentina also celebrated its victory over Brazil, whose papal candidate Odilo Pedro Scherer was passed over. The celebrations have taken on the proportions of a celebration over a soccer victory. Even if there are many who swear soccer is a religion, still we can say that Diego Maradona is no longer the most famous Argentine in the world. You've reached the top, Bergoglio, or — pardon me — Francis.

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