New pope’s fear of the Curia

IT didn't surprise most Vatican watchers that new pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, wasn't among the front-runner papabiles, who included Manila's Cardinal Luis Tagle.

What did surprise was that the new pope is non-European, from Argentina, the first in more than 1,200 years, a cardinal who had distaste for, if not fear of, the Curia.

First, given how it's being mangled in broadcast' news, how is the cardinal's name pronounced?

"New York Times" says it's Ber-GOAL-io while NECN.com says it's bur-GOGH-lee-oh and Jorge is HOHR-hay. Take your pick but the betting is on what will be the global household word soon: just Pope Francis.

Filipinos may fret over Cardinal Tagle's loss but they can bear it, having somehow half-expected the result. ("News Sense," as early as Feb. 13, said a Filipino new pope "won't happen.")

What must gladden us is that Pope Francis comes from South America whose people are as mired in poverty and as disappointed as Filipino Catholics and others outside Europe who have watched problems of oppression, sexual abuse, diminishing flock, and leaks on Vatican scandals rock the church.

Handicap, asset

As cardinal, Pope Francis said he'd die in Vatican's bureaucracy, preferring to work among the poor of Buenos Aires. But as pope, he knows he has to wrestle with the Curia's "dysfunction and corruption," among other ills of the Catholic Church.

The new pope is not the cardinal from Manila, we do have a pope whose election waves a banner of reform.

Some caution though. This church has resisted change in pretty much of its 1,200/1,970-year history.

(paseares@sunstar.com.ph)