A new Pope has been named last week. Pope Francis was chosen
by his fellow bishops to lead the Roman Catholic Church.
The voting process, as tradition dictates, was held in the
highest form secrecy. Unknown to many, the Vatican thought of introducing ‘voting
via text votes’ for the first time in history! They backed out at the last
minute because it’s like saying ‘lets give the crown to the Philippines!’
The voting process was so confidential that the bishops were
reminded that they would be punished by excommunication if they spill any
details of it. Unfortunately, this ‘my-lips-are-sealed’ policy also applies to
the pile of sexual harassment cases that the church accumulated over the years.
As tradition dictates, a white smoke should signify that
a Pope has been chosen while a black one signifies- suspense! (we will be back
after the commercial break!)
This recent election of the new Pope was historical in many
aspects. First Pope to come from the Jesuit order, first Pope to choose the
name Francis and the first Pope to come from the Americas. So many 'firsts' or as Madonna would put it
‘like a virgin!’
This is also the first time that the selection was
broadcasted via social networking platform and as expected, it topped most of
the trending topics in twitter expect for the Harlem Shake and Justin Bieber’s
meltdown.
In the Philippines, the event was highly anticipated because
of the rumored strong chance of our very own Bishop Tagle in the race for the
papacy. Unconfirmed reports put Tagle as the first runner up! Or as we Filipinos
put it- the Jessica Sanchez syndrome or pwede ding Janine Tugonon phenomenon!
It was said that inside the Sistine Chapel during the final
deliberation the final candidates were made to answer one final question which
goes like: ‘do you think Latin should be a prerequisite to being a Pope?’
Our very own Tagle gained applause when he confidently
answered ‘It's not knowing how to speak a specific language, it’s about being
able to influence and inspire other people. Thank Yeow!’
A new Pope has been named last week. Pope Francis was chosen
by his fellow bishops to lead the Roman Catholic Church in an era where the
institution is plagued by massive allegations of sexual abuse, diminishing
believers and outdated beliefs.
Meanwhile in the Philippines, the Catholic priests are busy
campaigning against RH Bill proponents so passionate that they mention it in
Sunday homilies and so creative that they come up with a moniker for it aka‘Team
Patay’ and so shameless that they think they have absolute grip of the moral
compass.
A new leader of the Roman Catholic Church has been named
last week in Rome and he chose the name Pope Francis. In the Philppines,
mid-term elections is looming and if candidates can choose their last name they
would stab each other just to be an ‘Aquino’, ‘Enrile’ or ‘Binay’.