Reaction to Hispanic Jesuit Pope

4/2/13

Reaction to Hispanic Jesuit Pope

My partner and I have an incredible position in being able to observe the reaction to having a Pope that is both Hispanic and a Jesuit. Both of our families are hispanic and we both go to a Jesuit school. So we were able to get two different sides of joy when Pope Francis I was elected Pope.

To celebrate the announcing of the first Jesuit Pope in history, the head priest of our school decided to have a mass to mark such a historic event. After mass, he completely surprised us and decided to give us the rest of the day off. You can only imagine how excited not only we were, (we were really, REALLY excited) but how excited he must of been to let out his students on a Tuesday. Even in the interview conducted by the local news station he expressed his excitement and how ecstatic he was for the first Jesuit Pope. We even got prayer cards. It was a great day. 

As most of you who have followed the Pope know, he has started a papacy mostly dedicated to poverty. When a Pope is elected, he will usually stay in the Apostolic Palace. When Jorge Bergoglio was elected, he decided to stay in the hotel designated for the papal electors. He still hasn't moved. And people say previous Popes lived in modest conditions. Why people ask is Pope Francis still living in the hotel and why is he putting so much attention to the poor (which if you ask me, is something that should be focused on extensively by all Popes)? Because he is a Jesuit, that is their mission: to devote their life to the service of those less fortunate than them.

Mind-blowing huh?

Also as a hispanic, we are able to experience the excitement from our latin families and friends. My family are great friends with an Argentinean family and so I asked them what they thought and what the reaction around the country was when Pope Francis I was elected. They told me that they were very happy and there was a national euphoria around the country, especially in Buenos Aires. For most of the world is was a huge surprise, and for the Argentinean it was not only a huge surprise but a great surprise. 

I also had the privilege to travel to Buenos Aires this past week and witness the joy firsthand. Every billboard you will find there has either Messi's or Pope Francis I's face. Every church I visited and saw had a poster of him congratulating him on his great accomplishment. On the 9 de Julio Avenue in central Buenos Aires, the widest avenue in the world with 10 lanes, there his a huge glass building who has one side completely covered in a poster celebrating the new Pope's election.

Just like it was a huge surprise for the Jesuits in our school, it was a great surprise for the entire country of Argentina. Overall, I believe he will be an EXCELLENT Pope if he keeps his earlier promises to dedicate his office and power to poverty.