Pope Francis

Among the craziness of all of the things said about our new Pope, I have found some wonderful articles and stories about the man.

That picture above is him riding the bus with the other cardinals instead of taking a luxury vehicle. 

First, here is a wonderful video from Catholic Vote which shows the process of conclave the last two days through the election of the Pope. It's basically 2 minutes of pure awesome: The Election of Pope Francis.

Next, we can get a little taste of Pope Francis-funny, light-hearted, and humble. Here is an article quoting Cardinal Timothy Dolan talking about the experience of the first evening with the new Pope: "I hope God forgives you" .

Speaking of Cardinal Dolan, a well-loved (for very good reason) Cardinal who serves as the Archbishop of New York, here are his thoughts on his experience of this conclave: Viva il Papa Francesco!

As for an understanding of what it means to have a Jesuit as a Pope, here is Fr. James Martin, S.J. of The Colbert Report fame, among many other places, explaining the experience of a Jesuit having one of his brother priests chosen as Pope: Fr. James: "My Take" .

The best article I have read, as is usually the case these days, came from George Weigel. Weigel is known most for his biography on the late John Paul II, and continues to write wonderful work explaining the dynamics of the Church in the modern world, and this look at Pope Francis and the task ahead of him is no exception: The First American Pope .

The first 24 hours must be crazy for a Pope; let's see how he spent his! Doing it his way

Finally, if you want to get a feel for someone, why not read their own thoughts. And so, here is the translation of Pope Francis' homily from his first public Mass as Pope today. (by the way, it's awesome-worth your read. And plus, it's short). Pope Francis' First Homily .

Edit: Here is another article I forgot to add! Fr. Dwight Longenecker talks about Pope Francis' visit to the basilica church in Rome called St. Mary Major this morning, and particularly his prayer at the tomb of Pope St. Pius V: Why did Pope Francis go to St. Mary Major?

As time goes on, I know that we will simply learn more and more about this man, but from what we have seen so far, the Church is in great hands. And, well, what else did we expect? She has been around 2,000 years for a reason. Praise God for His care and for our new Shepherd.

By the way: any other articles I should add?



UPDATE: [[4/18, 2PM]] -- The Vatican has given us the official announcement of the Pope's motto and coat of arms! You can see that here: Miserando atque eligendo and you can read where the USCCB explains more about his coat of arms and his ring here: Pope Francis' Ring and Pallium

In the Pope's first Angelus address on Sunday, he delivered some very profound words on Mercy. They are worth reading, and the English text can be found here: Pope Francis' First Angelus Address

Here you can see some video with translations of Pope Francis' comments on the priesthood and the Eucharist: Pope Francis on the Priesthood and the Eucharist

This one is just a comical story about an honest doorman answering a phone at the Jesuit motherhouse and not believing the man on the other end who said he was the Pope-but he really was!: Jesuit doorman surprised by Pope's phone call

One more article here is the reflections of Mark Hart, from Lifeteen; he takes the text of the Pope's first homily and breaks it up with some reflections on what the Pope is challenging us to do: Our New Pope: Humble Yet Powerful .