Pope Francis was elected pope to reverse monumental Catholic decline in a region that is home to 40 percent of the world’s Catholics. The only way to do this is to target those sectors of the population who have most defected to the Pentecostal competition, the poor, Indigenous peoples, youth, women and prisoners. Whether or not the overwhelming popular enthusiasm shown for the Argentine pope in the three South American nations will translate into more parishioners in Latin American pews remains an open question.
Well, this makes him a traveling salesman to beat all, crafty and a trifle unscrupulous.
Anyhow, he wasn’t elected to shoot down free-market capitalism? I’ll be darned.
Blithe Spirit 