Tim Wise has a point.
Pope Francis (1936- ), the first pope of that name, is the new head of the Catholic Church. He was Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, SJ, archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina from 1999 to 2013. He is the first pope from the Americas, where nearly half of all Catholics live, the first from the global South, and the first Jesuit. He is named after St Francis of Assisi, whom God told to rebuild the Church.
In 2010 there were 1.2 billion Catholics. Where they lived by continent:
- 28% South America
- 26% Europe
- 20% North America
- 13% Africa
- 12% Asia
- 1% Oceania
Despite this, 53% of the cardinal electors who vote for pope are from Europe. Like it was still 1936 or something.
- The last African pope: Pope Saint Gelasius I, a Berber, in 496
- The last Asian pope: Pope Saint Gregory III, of Syria, in 741
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oogenhand 