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Mar 13, 2013 | Mary Frances Schjonberg

Francis I is a Pope of Firsts

Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Maria Bergoglio, 76, was elected March 13 by the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church to succeed Pope Benedict XVI.

 

Bergoglio, the first Jesuit and the first cardinal from Latin America ever to be elected pope, chose the name Francis I.

 

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said in a statement that the Episcopal Church “will pray for the new Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis I, and for the possibility of constructive dialogue and cooperation between our churches.”

 

The National Catholic Reporter reported in a profile 10 days before his election that Bergoglio was runner-up in the 2005 conclave that elected his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

 

Francis Xavier, one of the first seven Jesuits, was a student of Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. Some consider the two to be the co-founders of the order. Early in their history, the Jesuits ran afoul of the pope, the Roman Curia and some nations more than once, but mostly for political and economic reasons rather than theological ones.

 

Read more at ENS