Habemus Papam Franciscum!

What an exciting day! Fr. John moved quickly through our halls, excitedly announcing the white smoke signalling a successful election. I was a bit annoyed at the hurriedness, the excitement, the urgency of the message; so many would receive the news so much later than I. But within a minute, I could not restrain the excitement of the moment and called home to make sure they knew. I then went up to our church (St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine of Perpetual Adoration) to offer some prayers of thanksgiving; Fr. Tom soon joined me and led those in adoration in the traditional Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for the pope.

We then gathered in our TV room to await the announcement of who had been chosen and his regnal name, and his presentation and greeting. At long last, around 3pm Eastern Time, Cardinal Tauran emerged on the balcony to announce Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio had chosen the name Francis. The excitement mounted, because the name was Italian, as many had suspected the pope may be, and already intriguing that he had chosen Francis.

Fr. John quickly turned to Google to find out more about Bergoglio, and landed on his Wikipedia page, which had already been renamed to “Pope Francis,” where we learned that he was Cardinal-Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The South American connection was additionally intriguing and we began to learn more about him.

His appearance itself struck me deeply. At our holy hour tonight, I journalled:

His greeting was somewhat short; he came out and waved, then stood for a minute, hands at his sides, taking in the moment and the cheering crowd. He used the familiar Italian greeting, ‘[Brothers and sisters,] good evening!’ He thanked those of Rome and all gathered, then immediately led us in praying an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for [Pope Emeritus] Benedict XVI. A powerful moment.

He then delivered a message calling all to pray for each other, calling us ‘fratelli’ – ‘brothers.’ Approaching the Urbi et Orbi blessing, he asked everyone to pray for God’s blessing for him - the silence was beautiful; he bowed his head and received the fruit of our prayers, then rose and imparted that special blessing to the world.

He lingered for a couple minutes... then addressed the crowd, expressing his love and closeness by saying, ‘See you Sunday, when we will pray the Angelus to the Madonna!’

His presence was remarkable; his patience and composure combine with his casual and intimate tone so that we are drawn to him, love him, and are taken up into the solemnity of the moment—he shared his silence with us, and prayed with us virtually continuously. Very cool!

In the hours that followed, we learned that he prefers to cook his own meals, live in a simple apartment, and that his attitude of poor and humble servitude promises to be a distinctive mark of his papacy.

UPDATED: We also learned from Fr. Tim that Cardinal Bergoglio is very well-versed in the Spiritual Exercises and that he attended meetings with him and other experts on the Exercises in South America. Fr. Tim informed us at lunch today that his recollection was of another Argentinian scholar and not Bergoglio.

We seminarians went to the Cathedral for an evening Mass of thanksgiving for the election of the pope, which was said in Spanish by a visiting priest concluding a week of mission talks for the Cathedral parish. It was a lively Mass, full of joy, and the best part was in the homily, delivered in Spanish:

We rejoice tonight because we have a pope, and a pope who speaks Spanish! (applause) But he also speaks the language of humility, the language of service, the language of sanctity... God has not abandoned his church and tonight we rejoice together, united as one family with our Heavenly Father.

Follow more news about Pope Francis via the following articles:

• From NPR regarding the name Francis; a well-sourced article: http://n.pr/WIxt3s
• From the Vatican News Service: first words (with audio, partially translated); and some points from Fr. Lombardi; and the official biography.

Also, Fr. John quickly assembled a news release for our website, www.omvusa.org.

As Pope Francis did, let us implore the intercession of our mother, the Madonna, that she may protect the Church and strengthen her leaders that, with humility, simplicity, and zeal for their Father’s house, they may teach, govern, and sanctify the people of God until the end of time. Amen.


Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca