Having been a lifelong fan of that particular Francis, I was quite excited when the new pope's name was announced, thinking that anyone who would take the name of Francis of Assisi would be the reformer the Church and the world need in this era. Yess!!But then the shoe dropped -- the pope-elect chose the name, OF COURSE, of one of the founders of his Jesuit community, St. Francis Xavier...
We don't know much about Pope Francis yet, but it seems that he's a man who favours simplicity, and he has some pastoral sense if he's telling his priest to baptize infants even if their parents haven't been married. I mean, it's not the child's fault that his parents didn't see the necessity.
So I'm going to reserve judgment, and just say, God bless Pope Francis.
And, come, Holy Spirit!
I too was excited to think that he was choosing his moniker in honor of Francis of Assisi. I am disappointed that it is not so, but knowing nothing of this Jesuit I cannot make a judgement. It seems that the more good people we have in the world fighting the good fight the better!
ReplyDeleteIt seems now that he did choose his name because of his affection and affinity for St. Francis of Assisi. I'll take that as a good sign...
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