The Tribe Has Spoken

image edited by Naledi Sibisi

Francis:
Pronounced: FRANT-səs (English)

Yesterday was monumental as the 266th leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis was elected. 

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the Argentinian native was ordained as a priest in the late 1960s and went on to become the Archbishop of Buenos Aires before the new millennium, you know, before the world was supposed to end?

As a pope of firsts, he is definitely one for the archives. He is the first to select the name  Francis, a name allocated to numerous rulers in history - French kings, British dukes and Roman emperors. Most importantly, he chose this name in relation to Francis of Assisi, a man who Catholics have a high opinion of due to his work with the less fortunate and further seen as an advocate of the church, "answering God's call to "repair my church in ruins"".

Additionally, he is the first non-European pope since centuries ago and the first Jesuit Priest (belonging to a Roman Catholic order known as The Society of Jesus informally referred to as God's troops). ABC News went on to refer to him as "the man who surprised everyone".

Pope Francis was greeted by a crowd shy of 200 000 at Saint Peter's Square which he reacted to with a seemingly shy and overwhelmed wave - testament to his humility as a leader. He began his speech by offering a prayer to his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI who stunned the world with his recent resignation. He then went on to request an unexpected prayer not for the people but for himself as he would be serving them - reminding the crowd that they must continually remember to pray for one another and to pray for the globe in hopes of unity - an element present throughout his speech as he addressed the crowd as though they were his own family. As seen in the above video, Pope Francis physically stands on the same level as the cardinals as he declined to be elevated on a platform - reinforcing his desire for brotherhood.

Image by ABC News

According to CNN, Canadian Catholic Priest, Rev. Tim Rosica stated that "We have a pope who probably upset some people tonight by not following the formula.

Influential leader of the free world, President of The United States of America, Barack Obama said the following:

“On behalf of the American people, Michelle and I offer our warm wishes to His Holiness Pope Francis as he ascends to the Chair of Saint Peter and begins his papacy. As a champion of the poor and the most vulnerable among us, he carries forth the message of love and compassion that has inspired the world for more than 2,000 that in each other we see the face of God. As the first pope from the Americas, his selection also speaks to the strength and vitality of a region that is increasingly shaping our world, and alongside millions of Hispanic Americans, those of us in the United States share the joy of this historic day.” (http://bit.ly/10I1TjW) 

On the contrary, I spent my night looking through my twitter feed to see how the rest of us who aren't presidents or cardinals reacted and the majority seemed to follow suit, placing exclamation marks and excited faces supported by happy hashtags about #PopeFrancis. The minority were angered by the fact that the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church did not support gay marriage or the use contraceptives. As a leader of the Roman Catholic Church should? I'm not too sure.

Nonetheless, there is an all-round positive reaction to the new ruler who wasn't considered a front runner for the position. Pope Francis, the tribe has spoken - in the right manner.

http://abcn.ws/4EUg8s (ABC News)
http://bit.ly/12RVdVw (CNN)
http://bit.ly/10I1TjW (Mirror News)