He was not what she was expecting, in several ways. The man who would one day be Pope Francis had come to hold a service far from the grandeur of the great cathedral of Buenos Aires. He had travelled – taking the subway train and then the bus – to arrive in one of the Read more
A photograph taken in Argentina in 2007 shows two cardinals, Jorge Mario Bergoglio and Tarcisio Bertone, sitting side by side, although their chairs are on two different levels. At the time, Bertone was the Vatican’s Secretary of State, having traveled to a village in northern Patagonia “in the name of His Holiness Benedict XVI” to Read more
Pope Francis is a Charismatic. Though I made the case for this in a HuffPost blog almost a year ago, the Argentine pontiff’s penchant for Spirit-centred Catholicism has been one of the most underreported aspects of his dynamic papacy. Francis’s spirited participation in the 37th Annual Convocation of the Charismatic movements along with some 50,000 Catholics at Read more
With an Argentinian Pope at the helm of the Catholic Church, populist politicians in Latin America are doing their best to enlist him in order to promote their agendas. Within a week of Francis’ election, the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claimed that the new Pope’s statements on the “option for the poor” were, in fact, Read more
Former soccer star Diego Maradona has urged Pope Francis to transform the Vatican from “a lie” into an institution that gives more to the people. In an interview shown on an Italian television station, Dubai-based Maradona urged his fellow Argentine move ahead with reforms. “The Vatican, for me, is a lie because instead of giving to people it Read more
Argentina’s Catholic bishops have spoken out about violence that is besetting their nation. In a statement released at their recent annual conference, the bishops said “We notice with pain and concern that Argentina is sick with violence. Some symptoms are clear, others more subtle”. “Criminal acts have not only risen in number, but in aggressiveness; a Read more
A child of a lesbian couple has been baptised in the Catholic Church in Argentina, in a first for the South American nation. The child’s godmother is Argentina’s president Christina Fernandez de Kirchner. Continue reading
Pope Francis used to pick up La Nacion newspaper every day at a kiosk across from the city’s cathedral. Each edition was bound by a rubber band. But then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, being frugal, would save the rubber bands and return them in a ball at the end of every month. Guide Javier Cortese offered the anecdote Read more
March is a wet month in Rome. It was raining when Pope Francis was elected on 13 March 2013, and it was pouring raining again when I was back there last week in preparation for his first anniversary. But nothing seems to dampen media enthusiasm for Francis and his approach to what he calls his Read more
Don’t cry for the Catholic Church in Argentina or anywhere else in Latin America. The church may have lost privileged status in many nations, and is dropping some market share to a rapidly growing Pentecostal movement. But the combination of increasing religious freedom and competition is also fuelling a Catholic renewal movement, and equipping the Read more