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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Mar 14, 2013
March 14, 2013
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Pope Opera:
Well, thank God that's over. "Habemus Papam!" Latin for "We have a pope!"
In the face of deep divisions within the Church, Cardinals elected a new pope to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics last night. The Cardinals selected JORGE BERGOGLIO of Argentina, the first pope ever from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium. He chose the name Pope Francis. (The Vatican says the name will not include the Roman numeral I.)
His Wikipedia page was already up-to-date be he even emerged from the loggia overlooking St. Peter's Square to deliver his first words as the bishop of Rome.
The selection came as a big surprise. Gamblers had him tabbed as a 25-1 long shot.
Bergoglio reportedly finished second in the 2005 conclave that produced Benedict XVI, who last month became the first pope to resign in 600 years.
Bergoglio becomes the 266th pontiff in the Church's history in what was a remarkably fast conclave.On Twitter yesterday... trending topic now #ReplaceMovieTitlesWithPope. Some of the better ones:
--"Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Pope"
--"Pope Fiction"
--"Dude, Where's My Pope?"
--"The Pope Wears Prada"
--"Austin Powers: The Pope Who Shagged Me"
--"Harry Pope and the Prisoner of the Vatican"
--"Ace Ventura: Pope Detective"
--"Popeback Mountain"
--"The Great White Pope"
--"Silence of the Popes"
--"Dances with Pope"
--"Live Free or Pope Hard"Titles they hadn't thought of (Maiman):
--"Pope Floats"
--"The Popeinator"
--"Life of Pope"
--"Django UnPoped"
--"Zero Dark Popey"
--"The Dark Pope Rises"
--"Pope Fellas"
--"The Big LePopeski"
--"Popeless in Seattle"
--"Poperahoma"What do we know about Pope Francis? Here's a papal primer.
Cardinal JORGE MARIO BERGOGLIO is theologically conservative on most of the important issues: He is anti-abortion, opposed to same-sex marriage (Argentina has legalized gay marriage; he spoke out strongly against it); he opposes adoption by homosexuals, which he's claimed is a form of discrimination against children.
That's pretty standard for the Catholic upper management.
He promotes social justice, as in, the unjust distribution of goods. During the wave of protests in Argentina in 2001, he said, "Poor people... are persecuted for demanding work, and rich people... are applauded for fleeing from justice." Prior to the Conclave, journalist and pope-watcher MICHAEL DOUGHERTY crafted introductory profiles of each likely candidate, and he suggested that a Bergoglio papacy would see social justice and humility rise as priorities in the church.
He won on the fifth ballot with 115 votes; you need 77. That's not abnormally fast. The past twelve conclaves have averaged three days in length, requiring six-and-a-half ballots.
It's easy to see why so much is being made of the fact Cardinal Bergoglio is the first pope from South America. Catholicism has claimed South America to be under its domain officially since 1493, but it has taken 520 for a South American to ascend to the papacy. As pointed out by many today, the majority of Argentinians continue to identify as Catholic, however only 20 percent identify as practicing.
In addition to being the first pope to be called "Francis," Bergoglio is also the first Jesuit pope. The Jesuit order has long stood at the periphery of the Catholic Church's hierarchy. Many Catholics consider the Jesuits to be the most progressive order; several Jesuit colleges even hosted a LBGTQ lounge. However, Pope Francis seems as though he will uphold the teachings and morals of the Church. He's thoroughly school in the doctrine. (Maiman)Chic Sh*t:
A lot of people use Chapstick to keep their lips from drying out. Did you know you can also use Chapstick to repair wardrobe malfunctions? "Extra" co-host MARIA MENOUNOS calls the lip balm her "best kept secret." She told People magazine that she's used Chapstick to repair torn hems. And she said she even helped actress GLENN CLOSE fix a rip in her dress at an Emmy awards a few years aho. Maria said she whipped out her Chapstick to fix Glenn's dress while the actress did an interview. (Bartha)
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