Don’t cry for him, Argentina!

Like most Catholics elsewhere in the world, we were among those who closely watched for the outcome of the election at the Vatican for the new Pope. After two days of the conclave’s closed-door deliberations, the 115 Cardinals of the Catholic world cast their vote while a huge crowd waited for the white smoke from the chimney at the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

We were drawn to the Vatican election as one of those mentioned as a popular choice was our very own Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle. At the outset, however, it is only wishful thinking on our part that our lone Cardinal — who’s just 55 years old — could be the next pope.

It was on the fifth voting that the Cardinals finally came out with a two-thirds majority that picked fellow Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina to become the new pope.

In traditional rites, the new pope immediately took the name Francis I and became the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years.

Pope Francis I succeeded Pope Benedict XVI who announced his abdication last Feb. 11 to pave the way for the smooth transition to his successor. Pope Benedict’s resignation took effect last Feb. 27. Now Pope Emeritus, he has since left the Vatican and stays in a retirement home at Castel Gandolfo, about 15 miles from Rome.

As they had intended, the election of Pope Francis l came before the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics observe Holy Week later this month. The Vatican announced Pope Francis will, however, make his inaugural mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on March 19.

Based on his profile background, the new Pope studied philosophy, literature, psychology, and theology in various universities in Argentina, Chile, Spain, and Germany, before and after joining the priesthood. Despite losing a lung to respiratory illness several decades ago, he is said to be otherwise healthy.

Bergoglio is described by people who know him personally as a humble man preferring an austere life. He reportedly travels by public transport and lives in a small apartment outside Buenos Aires.

In fact, wire news reports said Bergoglio shunned the papal limousine after his first public appearance at the balcony following his election yesterday. He took a shuttle bus back with Cardinals later for an evening meal together at the Vatican residence where they have been staying during the conclave.

Addressing the crowd for the first time as Pope Francis, he urged them: “Pray for me.” His asking the people to bless him before he blessed them was seen as a genuine demonstration of his humility.

Pope Francis l is also known for his concern for the poor which he indicated by his choice of the name of St. Francis of Assisi, who died in 1226 with stigmata on both hands and was known for living a life of poverty and simplicity. St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and of the environment. He founded the Franciscan order of priests.

The monks at the convent of St. Francis in Assisi reportedly were overjoyed at the election of Bergoglio and his decision to take the name Francis for a pontiff for the first time.

The 76-year-old Pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope after 265 predecessors to serve the Holy See. He is actually a surprise choice and his name was not even mentioned among the ten reported “favorite” candidates to replace Pope Benedict XVI. Actually, reports now coming out from Vatican have it that Bergoglio was a moderate rival candidate of the conservative Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany during the 2005 conclave when the latter got elected and became Benedict.

Because he was the most popular choice at that time, the then Cardinal of Buenos Aires reportedly begged his fellow Cardinals during the 2005 conclave not to vote for him and pushed for Ratzinger’s candidacy instead. Eight years later, he obviously could not anymore talk his way out of the higher calling.

But still the choice of Bergoglio, the first Latin American pope, is billed as a surprise outcome of the conclave. Front runners had included fellow countryman, Argentina Cardinal Leonardo Sandri; Brazilian Odilo Scherer, US cardinals Timothy Dolan and Sean O’Malley, Canada’s Marc Ouellet and Italy’s Angelo Scola, who would have returned the papacy to traditional Italian hands after 35 years of the German Benedict XVI and Polish John Paul II.

In brief remarks from the balcony of St. Peter’s, Francis asked all the faithful to also pray for Pope Emeritus Benedict whom he called Bishop of Rome. Under his leadership, Pope Francis said the Church was setting off on a “journey of fraternity, of love, of trust.” In a light vein, he quipped, it seemed the cardinal electors “went to the ends of the world” to find him.

It is no joke but traveling to Argentina is really a long journey, especially if you come from this part of the world. I had the opportunity to travel to Buenos Aires for the coverage of the state visit there of former President Joseph Estrada. It took us 16 hours of air travel.

Come to think of it, while Pope Francis is the erstwhile Cardinal of Argentina, he is an Italian by blood. Bergoglio was born into a middle-class family of seven when his father, an Italian railway worker, and his mother, a housewife, migrated to Argentina. He was born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936.

He became a priest at the age of 33. In 1998, he became archbishop of Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina. The late Pope John Paul II made him cardinal in 2001.

While still a Cardinal in Buenos Aires, he showed deep concern about the social inequalities in Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America. It was reported that he sometimes had a difficult relationship with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez and her late husband and predecessor Nestor Kirchner.

His countrymen in Argentina, however, definitely rejoiced with the election of Pope Francis. Argentines reportedly jubilantly poured into churches while some cried and prayed when the announcement came.

The tens of thousands in St. Peter’s Basilica square cheered “Francesco,” the Italian name for Francis. And the rest of the Catholic world chanted “Viva il Papa!” So don’t cry for him, Argentina.