Francis in Full

By common consensus, Jorge ­Mario Cardinal Bergoglio won the papacy by means of an intervention he made at one of the General Congregations preceding the conclave of 2013. The archbishop of Buenos Aires spoke in a simple but passionate way of a Church that goes out from itself to the margins, both economic and existential, in order to bring the Good News of ­Jesus Christ. Wearied by the scandals that bedeviled Pope Benedict XVI in the latter years of his papacy and eager for a breath of fresh air, the cardinals turned to this man who spoke with such clarity and confidence. Cardinal Bergoglio’s eloquent speech signaled continuity with the deepest instincts of the fathers of the Second Vatican Council, with the teaching of Pope Paul VI, with the rich and complex magisterium of Pope John Paul II, and with the witness of Pope Benedict XVI. I believe that his brother cardinals correctly sensed in his oration the best of the conciliar and postconciliar elan.