The Issue: The surprise election of Pope Francis, an Argentine known for his humility.
***
The Roman Catholic Church has elected a new leader, Pope Francis, the first Jesuit and Latin American to become pope (“Meet the Pope,” Editorial, March 14).
The complexity of his appointment could revitalize a lost hope that has infused the hearts of over a billion Christians since the birth of Christ.
This pope’s greatest quality is his humility, a virtue nearly lost forever in a world of arrogance and self-idolization.
Hopefully, he can teach us once again that self-examination leads to a better world for us all.
Theodore Miraldi
The Bronx
How small-minded and self-centered is the mainstream media to lament that Pope Francis is “sadly” too traditional in such matters as sexuality and contraception?
At a time when the church is still recovering from the egregious behavior of its priests and struggling to fulfill the much grander missions of rekindling the faith — influencing world events, protecting the poor, the persecuted and the oppressed and rebuilding itself for the centuries ahead — the temporal behavioral uncertainties of modern society are hardly the sole priority.
We should be very grateful that a wise, sincere, unpretentious and generous priest has been picked to fill Peter’s shoes.
Marcio Moreira
Chatham, NJ