海角大神

The first-ever Latin American pope has prompted mixed reactions in the region, from sheer jubilation and tongue-in-cheek comments to serious questions about his relations with a former Argentine dictatorship and his position on same-sex unions that have gained approval in several Latin American nations in recent years.聽

All major newspapers across Latin America, which is home to the largest Catholic population in the world, highlighted news of the election of Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who took the name Francisco.

Pablo Hiriart, publisher of Mexico鈥檚 La Raz贸n newspaper registered the historic shift for the church, writing:聽

Residents across the region expressed a newfound feeling of being represented now that one of their region's own sat on the seat of St. Peter.聽

The choice of a cardinal from the region was 鈥減henomenal, because now we [Latin Americans] can really feel that we are represented in the Catholic Church,鈥� says Gustavo Arias, as he loads a sheet of buns into the oven of his neighborhood bakery in the center of聽Bogot谩.聽Victor Campos, a doorman in Lima, Peru, echoes the thought:聽鈥淚t鈥檚 something to be proud of that the pope is from our lands and that our countries are represented in such high positions so that [the church] will remember about us.鈥�

Rosa Maria Vicario, a bank executive in the capital of the Dominican Republic, says she feels 鈥渟uper happy鈥� with the election of a Latin American pope. 鈥淎merica has more Catholics than Europe and we鈥檇 had enough of popes worried only about Europe.鈥� 聽

A humble Argentine?

However, reflecting a generalized notion held by many Latin Americans that Argentines have inflated egos, Ms. Vicario added that she wished he weren鈥檛 Argentine because 鈥渨ho鈥檚 going to be able to stand their bragging now?鈥�

Some of Latin America鈥檚 best-loved jokes involve Argentines who believe they are godlike:

Some of that holy humor slipped into the regional reactions.聽

The cover of Bogota鈥檚 El Espectador newspaper showed a full page photo of the new pope with his hand raised in blessing under the headline 鈥淭he hand of God鈥� 鈥� a joking reference to Argentine soccer superstar Diego Maradona鈥檚 controversial goal in the 1986 World cup quarter finals which he said was achieved "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God."

In Venezuela, acting president Nicolas Maduro ventured to suggest in a televised event that his recently deceased predecessor, Hugo Ch谩vez, also had a hand in the choice of pope.聽"We know that our commander rose to those heights and is standing before Christ. He must have had some influence so that a South American pope was chosen.鈥� And Christ said to him 鈥楽outh America鈥檚 time has come.鈥� That鈥檚 what we believe.鈥�

The view from Argentina

In Argentina, news of the election prompted cheers and applause from hundreds of churchgoers at a mass in the Cathedral of Buenos Aires. 聽

But Bergoglio is a controversial figure in Argentina, where he is criticized for failing to forcefully challenge the dictatorship that ruled the country from 1976 and 1983, during which more than 30,000 people were forcibly disappeared. Pagina/12 reports:

El Clarin also registered the president's remarks:

Gonzalo Serrano, a philosophy professor at Bogota鈥檚 National University, is not convinced that a Latin American pope will change anything for the region. 鈥淚t鈥檒l be the same, but in Spanish,鈥� he says.

But Natalia Algarin, in the Colombian city of Cartagena, thinks things could change, for the worse. 鈥淭his is a desperate attempt by the church to recuperate power in the region just when several of our countries finally decide to at least debate the issues of gay marriage, the rights of the LGBTI community, when we are trying to understand what happened during the dictatorship.鈥�