Pope Francis

Blessed John Paul, many years ago, said that the Church had to "breath with both lungs" to provide enough “oxygen” for the spiritual battle raging in today’s world.

Oh dear.

Francis, has only got one lung,
Benedict, has two but now he's gone,
Scola, mia piccola,
And poor Sodano has no lungs at all.

Difficult to find much online written by the new Holy Father as every search naturally goes to the news of the day.  I did find a letter to the Carmelite nuns of his diocese, asking them to pray for the battle against same-sex marriage.  Good that his instinct in a crisis is to call on the Carmelites - Jesuits have been outsourcing contemplative prayer for centuries.

There has been a lot of auld guff on the TV tonight with RTE and TV3 outdoing themselves in finding enemies of the Church to talk.  I mean, Tony Flannery and Susan McKay.  At least Patsy Mc Garry didn't make it.  There was a good guy on TV3 with Brown, Fr Joe McDonald, I think - he was excellent in decribing his sense of joy at the election of a Pope.  There was also a Passionist who kept things reasonably light but kept hoping the Pope would establish term limits.

So what do we really know about him? 

He looks like what you'd get if you photo morphed Pius XII, John XXIII and Paul VI.

His balcony smile was very John Paul I.

We will never see the fanon again.

He is the first Pope who was ordained to the priesthood after the Second Vatican Council.  This could mean two things - that he doesn't have the liberal hangups some of the old guys have - or he's steeped in the ghastliness of the 1970s generation.  He's a 1970s priest with all that that can entail.

He is loathed by traditionalists who regard him as an enemy of the Extraordinary Form.

All the things that make traddies detest him are the things that may make other people love him.

He has only one lung (in case you missed the joke at the start).

Can't anything particular to connect him with St Malachy's prophecy - Petrus Romanus - but the old Black Pope thing could fit.