Pope Francis I is the name of the 266th leader of The Roman Catholic Church, and while I’m disappointed the Conclave of Cardinals didn’t pick Peter Turkson, which would have made him the first black pope in several centuries, as my Mom (who I am visiting here in Georgia) observed, Jorge Mario Bergoglio is God’s choice and he has a reason for it.
Indeed, no one saw the selection of Jorge Mario Bergoglio coming. Certainly not Vegas betters, who had Peter Turkson as the favorite for the longest time; Cardinal Bergoglio was given a 3 percent chance. So, if you picked him, you made a killing in Las Vegas.
Bergoglio is widely said to be a man who’s a friend to the poor, and will return the Roman Catholic Church to its basic job of caring for those in need. Moreover, he’s Latino – the first in history, and reflects the amazing economic and political power shifts that are bringing Latin American culture into the forefront.
Something else too: the population growth rates for Latinos in America and around the World is more than that for European and American whites – that coupled with an increasingly white, well-educated tilt toward abortion and same-sex marriage, and you have the underpinnings of a future World culture war that Latinos could win, just by increasing numbers and economic power.
The wild-card? The communication of personal freedom thanks to the Internet. Sit back, folks and get your historic popcorn, this is going to be fun.
But I digress.
Given Bergoglio’s focus, and his humble approach to the job, asking for silent prayer after he was introduced, and seeming to be the true image of what a pope should be, he’s certainly not what Turkson would have been, given that he jumped the gun and went over to The Guardian to grant an interview as if he was the certain choice.
The Prophesy Is Thankfully Wrong
If Peter Turkson had been the choice, some would have pointed to The Papal Prophecy as being correct – that the 266th Pope would be named ‘Peter’ – and if that were the case, then we were on course toward The Apocalypse.
Wow.
Match that with Peter Turkson being black, and you’d have had a hell of an upended Catholic Church Worldwide. As I think about that scenario more and more, the selection of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the 266th Pope, one who calls himself Pope Francis I, after Saint Francis of Assisi, was the best outcome after all. Who knows what kind of craziness the selection of Turkson would have led to.
Still, it would have been interesting, but it didn’t happen.
Thank God.
Stay tuned.