Express Tribune Blogs: By Rohan Emmanuel: The last Pope, Benedict XVI, elected at the age of 78, was the oldest person to have been elected as pope since 1730. In February 2013, he announced his retirement due to old age. The election of the new pope has been the talk of the town and the air is buzzing with excitement everywhere except in Pakistan.
Pope Francis, baptised name Jorge Mario Bergoglio, took the position on March 13, 2013, just days before the holy week of Easter began. Amongst other things, Pope Francis is the first pope to have been a Jesuit (head of the Society of Jesus) and the first ever to come from the South Hemisphere, the Americas, since the seventh century.
As with every newly elected pope, Pope Francis also has a lot of challenges that await his attention. The biggest challenge the pope now faces is to make his voice heard against issues of abortion, same sex marriages, child abuse and women’s rights, in a society that now defies religious boundaries.
Unfortunately, all of the above mentioned issues are deeply entrenched in western culture and society.
Categories: Belief, Bible, Blasphemy, Catholic Church, Catholicism, Catholics, Europe