Cardinals elect new pope
Pope Francis I
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Bells sounded at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles today to greet the announcement that a new pope had been selected.
Archbishop Jose Gomez celebrated the midday Mass at the cathedral in recognition of the historic selection of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina as pope.
The Mass, held at noon in the middle of the week, was sparsely attended by about 70-100 people who walked through white and gold decorations at the entrance to the church. One parishioner, 26-year-old Chris De La Cruz said as he entered the cathedral that he hopes the new pope will be “someone who is
open-minded to the 21st Century.”
The selection of a pope from Argentina could prove to be particularly welcome news in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, the membership of which is about 70 percent Latino.
The new pontiff, the 266th leader of the Catholic Church, takes over for Pope Benedict XVI, who retired due to health reasons at the end of February.
He was the first pope in 600 years to resign.
Bergoglio, 76, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, took the name Pope Francis I. He is the first Jesuit and first non-European to be chosen pope.
Cardinal Roger Mahony, the former archbishop of the nearly 5 million-strong Archdiocese of Los Angeles, was among the cardinals at the Vatican who took part in the selection of the new pope. His presence made some headlines due to recent revelations about his handling of sex-abuse claims against
priests.
On Tuesday, attorneys for four people announced a nearly $10 million settlement of lawsuits against Mahony and the Los Angeles archdiocese over claims of abuse by former priest Michael Baker.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels hosted an all-night prayer vigil Monday night before the conclave of cardinals began the papal-selection process at the Vatican.
The selection of Argentinian cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the next leader of the Catholic Church was, in some ways, inevitable. Latin America is home to the largest Catholic population in the world, and it has been more than overtime for the tradition of selecting European popes to end.
Hopefully, Cardinal Bergoglio, to be known as Pope Francis, will be able to stem the tide of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church as well as put the church on the path of more transparency and integrity.
Today’s food holiday gets our seal of approval! April 8 is National Empanada Day.
Some food dishes know no boundaries; they are loved by many cultures the world over. Empanadas fit perfectly into this category.
Most people think of these half-moon shaped pastries as being South American, but their origins can be traced back to Portugal and Galicia. The beauty of empanadas is that the rich, buttery dough can be filled with almost anything — sweet or savory.
After years of non-action and adverse action from differing political groups, persuasions and governmental entities, the issue of immigration almost immediately gained more serious national attention following the re-election of President Barack Obama.
While most people think primarily of Hispanics and Asians when the topic of immigration comes up, there are number of people of African descent that fall into the immigrant population as well.
God may not notice the thousands of prayers tweeted for victims of Oklahoma’s devastating tornado — but Ricky Gervais sure has. And he is not pleased.
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 75,000 people have used the hashtag #PrayForOklahoma, including pop starlets, pastors and politicians, according to Topsy.com, a trend-monitoring site.
For example, the White House tweeted:
President Obama: “Our prayers are with the people of Oklahoma today.” #PrayForOklahoma
One of the most dangerous things about being part of the working homeless community is that you learn how to adapt to an unhealthy situation. It’s not comfortable, or safe, but you find ways to carry on with your life. Like most people, I grew up hearing the old saying, “misery loves company.” I always thought it was meant to be negative, that miserable people liked to make other people’s lives miserable like theirs. But being a part of the homeless community was a lifesaver for me.
