Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis: Against liberalism, critic of the IMF and foreign debt

[TommyCelt]

12. socialist_n_TN, I see parallels...

Good Pope John was considered an intellectual/theological lightweight, and a "place maker Pope" after Pius XII's long reign. I don't need to go into his accomplishments; John XXIII is greatest modern Pope. Without question.

While I'm unsure of Francis' intellectual credentials, he is certainly doesn't have the chops of BXVI. He's old, so they don't want a long papacy. But Francis is already screwing around with a lot of time-honored traditions:

- Choosing a regnal name that by tradition is from the 'retired jersey' list
- Asking to be blessed by the faithful before bestowing his first blessing
- Eschewing use of the Pope-mobile (hasn't used it yet)
- Using his plain iron cross pendant instead of the opulent gold papal cross
- Just being a Jesuit in general

He's got baggage from the Dirty War, by virtue of his position in the Jesuits at the time. But AI (not the Church's favorite organization and vice versa) has cleared him of any wrongdoing there. If there were anything to truly bring to light, I believe they would have. I'm guessing the phantom charges here will eventually dissipate. I'm more concerned by the comments he made about homosexual marriage as Archbishop.

All of the pluses are essentially window dressing at this point. As you say, let us see where Pope Francis' papacy and the state of the Church is in a year or two. As a progressive Catholic, I am heartened by what I have seen at this early stage, however.