Pope Francis I. Photo: Getty Images/Christopher FurlongThe Catholic Church introduced its new pope Wednesday—Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, of Argentina, who chose the name Pope Francis I.
He's the first Jesuit and first Latin American pope ever, and known for a few key facts: He's an advocate for the poor, prefers public transportation over chauffered limos, opposes abortion and euthanasia, and thinks that gay marriage and gay adoption are the work of Satan (though he once visited a hospice where he washed and kissed the feet of a dozen AIDS patients).
Oh, and there's this: In 2005, a human rights lawyer apparently accused him of conspiring with the military-led government to kidnap two Jesuit priests because of a difference of opinion on how to respond to the new dictatorship; no evidence ever surfaced.
Jo-Renee Formicola, political science professor at Seton Hall and Catholic Church expert, offered this nugget of hope while commentating on ABC News via Yahoo.com: “Jesuits have notoriously been critics of the church,” as well as “intellects," she said.
In any event, the frenzied thousands waiting in St. Peter's Square went wild as he was introduced, Evita-style, on the grand balcony—as did those in the Twitterverse, naturally.
In the immediate half hour following his dramatic intro, Tweets fell in one of two categories—straight news or jokey.
The jokey ones were the most fun, of course:
Ok forget it. Sound like we have an anti-gay pope.My wife and I will NOT be partying in cute Swiss Guard costumes
— mia farrow (@MiaFarrow) March 13, 2013
Some reactions were a bit more…angry:
Of course there were a few positive Pope posts, too:
And those straight-up newsy ones, like this:
Only time will tell which women's takes were most prescient/relevant.
