Who’s the brand new pope?
Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was born in Chicago and served for twenty years in Peru, the place he turned a bishop and a naturalized citizen, then rose to steer his worldwide spiritual order. Main as much as the demise of his predecessor, Cardinal Prevost held some of the influential Vatican posts, operating the workplace that selects and manages bishops globally.
A member of the Order of St. Augustine, he resembles Francis in his dedication to the poor and migrants, and to assembly folks the place they’re. He informed the Vatican’s official information web site final 12 months that “the bishop is just not purported to be a little bit prince sitting in his kingdom.”
He has spent a lot of his life exterior the US. Ordained in 1982 at 27, he acquired a doctorate in canon regulation on the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. In Peru, he was a missionary, parish priest, trainer and bishop. Because the Augustinians’ chief, he visited orders around the globe. He additionally speaks Spanish and Italian.
The place does he stand on main points?
Typically described as reserved and discreet, he would depart stylistically from Francis as pope. Supporters imagine he’ll most definitely proceed the consultative course of began by Francis to ask lay folks to fulfill with bishops.
It’s unclear whether or not he will probably be as open to homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics as Francis was. Though he has not stated a lot not too long ago, in a 2012 deal with to bishops, he lamented that Western information media and common tradition fostered “sympathy for beliefs and practices which can be at odds with the Gospel.” He cited the “gay way of life” and “various households comprised of same-sex companions and their adopted youngsters.”
As an American, he’s uniquely positioned to face in distinction to the energized conservative Catholicism in his dwelling nation. He has pushed again forcefully towards the militant imaginative and prescient of Christian energy that the Trump administration has elevated.
Earlier than he turned pope, a social media account underneath his identify shared criticisms of the Trump administration’s positions on immigration.
Like many different leaders of the Catholic Church, he has drawn criticism over his dealings with monks accused of sexual abuse.
Who selected the brand new pope?
Francis’ successor was chosen in a conclave that started on Might 7. Cardinals, generally known as the “princes of the church,” rank slightly below the pope within the Roman Catholic Church; collectively, they’re generally known as the School of Cardinals. There are presently 252 cardinals. Solely these underneath the age of 80 are eligible to vote, and there are 135 of them, the most important quantity within the church’s historical past. Pope Francis appointed about 80 p.c of them.
When a pope dies or steps down — which is uncommon — the faculty chooses a successor. The cardinals solid repeated votes till there’s a two-thirds majority. After each vote, the poll papers are burned in a range, together with an additive that produces a shade. The smoke is launched by a chimney that may be seen from St. Peter’s Sq., the place crowds sometimes collect to look at and wait. If a vote ends with no two-thirds majority, the smoke is black. When a choice is reached, the smoke is white.
How lengthy did it take for him to be elected?
The size of papal conclaves has different extensively over the centuries. Since 1900, this has been the fifth pope to be elected in two days.
The longest conclave throughout that point took 14 ballots, lasted 5 days and produced Pope Pius XI in 1922. Francis was elected after two days of voting.
The shortest conclave, the election of Pope Pius XII in 1939, took three ballots. However it has not all the time been so fast: The conclave that ended with the election of Pope Gregory X on Sept. 1, 1271, took two years, 9 months and two days.
What are the important thing points within the Catholic Church?
The cardinals needed to determine whether or not to decide on a pope who would comply with Francis’ path of openness and inclusion or decide a pontiff who would forge a unique one. Throughout his 12-year preach, Francis made landmark declarations that inspired liberals, together with permitting the blessing of individuals in same-sex unions and elevating his voice for migrants.
The cardinals who elect the pope generally look as ideologically polarized as many secular voters across the globe. Many conservative Roman Catholic leaders disagreed with Francis.
However the typical divisions between progressives and conservatives don’t correspond so neatly with the ideological battles inside the Vatican and the broader church. There are complicated debates over the position of girls and L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics within the church, whether or not monks needs to be allowed to marry, accountability for sexual abuse by clergy and different divisive questions.
