Pope Francis

I wouldn’t be so sure that His Holiness had in mind St Francis of Assisi. On Tuesday, Cardinal Bergoglio, as a good Jesuit, would have completed the Novena of Grace of St Francis Xavier. As a Pope of the New Evangelisation who better to dedicate his Pontificate to than the greatest of missionaries/evangelists?

Hugh, I believe Fr Lombardi the press chappie has clarified that it is St Francis of Assisi the Pope had in mind. But I’m sure St Francis Xavier can be added in as another level of understanding!

Mr. Cusack, will there be any posts over the coming days on impressions of the Holy Father you or those personally known to you might have gathered during his years in Bs. As.?

And yes, Cardinal Dolan recently told a reporter that the Holy Father made it explicit he took the name “in honor of Francis of Assisi.”

Lombardi has also said that the Pope will be known as Pope Francis, rather than Pope Francis I.
This is illiterate: John Paul I used the number, as did the Emperor Franz Josef I.
Is there no culture left anywhere?
The new Pope’s homily in the Sistina today was, by the way, magnificent. He quoted Leon Bloy:”He who does not pray to God prays to the Devil”. Sounds rather like Pius X to me.

Lombardi is correct. Properly speaking, there isn’t a Francis I until there’a a Francis II.

J.P.: Perhaps.

Mr van Nostrand: True, and he obviously is “the First”. But a sovereign dictates his own correct style, surely. This doesn’t forbid us from referring to him as “Francis I”. Those who tiresomely say “there can’t be a first until there’s a second” I can only presume refrain from, for example, calling Mr Obama “America’s first black president”, as there hasn’t been a second yet.

“Babette’s Feast” is his favourite film, and he prefers Beethoven and Wagner as interpreted by Furtwängler. I am beginning to like this man!

” he prefers Beethoven and Wagner as interpreted by Furtwängler “. oh dear that must send alarm signals rining in the MSM from New York to Tel Aviv. Just in case Pope Francis hasn’t got the message the Daily Telegraph reports ” Over the past twelve years there has been a rich and fruitful dialogue between the Holy See and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel on primary issues such as banning terrorism in God’s Name, the sanctity of life, the sanctity of the family unit, etc,” the chief rabbinate said in a statement. “This dialogue has led to significant achievements over the years, such as Holy See’s decision to heed the Chief Rabbinate’s request and suspend Holocaust-denier Bishop Richard Williamson, and the modification of sections of the Good Friday liturgy that were harsh and insulting towards the Jewish People