On March 13, 2013, after five rounds of voting, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was selected as pope, making him the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, the first non-European pope in modern times, and the first from the Jesuit order. In this post, we round up a range of reactions to the selection of the new pope—both within the English-language press and across Latin America.

Cardinal Bergoglio is the first pope to have chosen the name of Francis. Many assume that this choice is in reference to St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order. At CNN, Holly Yan points out that “St. Francis of Assisi was born the son of a rich cloth merchant. But he lived in rags among beggars at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.” An article at La Vanguardia quotes Europa Press, stating that while it is possible Bergoglio meant to recall St. Francis of Assisi, it is also possible that he was choosing to remember St. Francis Xavier, co-founder of the Society of Jesus. Should this be the case, it would give a different connotation to his papacy, one of evangelization, rather than piety.

In particular, Pope Francis has been lauded for his humble behavior as a cardinal. At the Global Post’s Belief blog, Emily Judem writes that the new pope is an extremely humble man, eschewing showy garments, and taking public transportation to work. She quotes Charles Sennott, Global Post founder, as saying, “The thing to know about Cardinal Bergoglio is that he has often been regarded as the conscience of the church in terms of the costs of globalization on the world’s poor.” An article in the Economist claims that “this was a good moment for a rupture with the past, and in some respects the cardinals’ choice does represent a clean break.… Pope Francis is different enough, in style and origin, to be credible as a ‘new broom’ sweeping the Vatican stables clean.” However, Francis still supports the church’s very conservative views on gay marriage and abortion. La Nacion writes that Pope Francis is an avid opponent of both matrimonio igualitario—egalitarian (gay) marriage—and abortion. He has been quoted as saying, “No seamos ingenuos: no se trata de una simple lucha política; es la pretensión destructiva al plan de Dios” (Let’s not be naïve; it is not just a political struggle, but a claim to destroy God’s Plan).

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