Pope Francis, the Disappeared, and the Questions That Won't Vanish

Like many people in Argentina, I received the election of the new pope with mixed feelings. On the one hand there is a certain pride in having a fellow-countryman being chosen for such a high seat – though the prevailing mood in the streets this week was not one of rejoicing but of incredulity, as if what we saw on the TV screens was some sort of practical joke the rest of the world was pulling on us (we tend to be a nation of skeptics). It is also true that the election of the first Latin-American pope is a good sign.

As bishop (1992), archbishop (1998), and cardinal (2001), Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) has made many gestures of humility and proximity towards the poor, and has been active in promoting pastoral presence in the slums. But his views on abortion, celibacy and same-sex marriage, which in 2010 became legal in Argentina in spite of his ardent campaigning against it, are as orthodox as any in the Church hierarchy could wish, even if he seems to hold a more tolerant view of the use of contraceptives in the prevention of disease.