First Latin Pope’s Appointment A Milestone For Hispanics, Humankind

I’ll never forget one moment in particular about the day that I met the man who would become my husband. In the midst of our simmering political debate in a cozy corner of a quaint coffeehouse, he gazed into my eyes and emphatically stated that then relatively unknown United States Senator Barack Obama would become the nation’s first Black president. Leaning over my steaming cup of peppermint mocha, I heartily laughed off his absurd assertion (for the record, this was very early on when Hillary Clinton was considered the heir apparent and most Americans did not even know Obama’s name). “So America’s going to elect a Black man as president of the United States,” I animatedly asked him, doing very little to conceal my disbelief. “And over Hillary too? Yeah, right.”

Well, we all now know that I was wrong. And twice over at that, as of this last election. So now it feels like déjà vu when I think about a few weeks ago when we first learned that Pope Benedict XVI, 85, had resigned after serving eight years as pontiff. “Well, all we need now is a Black pope and the world really is upside down,” I’d quipped, one evening as we’d cuddled on the couch. We both got a big laugh, but apparently my comment was not so far off the mark as I’d suspected.

Okay, so the new pope is not African-American, but he is from Latin America and he is the first man of color to hold this prestigious post in a really long time. The appointment of former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is historic on many fronts. For one, he is the first pontiff from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium. He also is the first Jesuit to become pope. This milestone, in many ways, is demonstrative of the move toward globalization that’s been predicted and pontificated about for decades. Our nation’s population, along with that of the world over, is getting browner and darker each year. According to an analysis released by the Pew Research Center in 2008, non-Hispanic White people will officially become a minority by 2050.

If immigration trends continue as they’ve been as of late, the population of the United States is projected to rise to 438 million that year, up from 296 million in 2005. And 82 percent of the increase will be due to a wave immigrants moving here from 2005 to 2050, and their U.S.-born descendants. Latinos currently make up 14 percent of the U.S. population and they are the country’s largest minority group. Their numbers will rise to 29 percent by 2050, the study found. The Asian population will rise to 9 percent from its current 5 percent, while the Black population is expected to stay the same. Let’s just say, I never expected the Vatican to be on the front end of such a trend. These little surprises, though, are what keep life interesting. Just when you think you have it all figured out, something like a Latin pope surprises the heck out of you, but in a good way.

His papacy is a big boon for Latinos worldwide and it’s a significant milestone embraced by many who champion diversity, like me. His appointment also makes sense. Of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, more than 40 percent are Hispanic. In the United States, a third of all Catholics over the age of 40 and nearly 50 percent of Catholics under age 40 are Hispanic. Most of Latin America, approximately 72 percent, is Catholic, according to the Pew Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life. There are an estimated 432 million Catholics in Latin America.

With those numbers in mind, it’s been exciting watching the wave of excitement over this historic designation spreading among Latinos across the globe. For example, one parishioner’s repeated exclamation, “Hallelujah! Papa Latino! Papa Latino!” in one news report, was absolutely heartwarming. It reminds me of the many celebrations that erupted worldwide – from Kenya to Kansas – the night President Obama was elected. Not so surprisingly, it seems that our Commander-In-Chief is relishing the historic appointment too. In fact, in a statement the president said this selection, “speaks to the strength and vitality of a region that is increasingly shaping our world.“ And, he added, that “alongside millions of Hispanic Americans, those of us in the United States share the joy of this historic day.”

I, too, am hopeful that the tenure of Pope Francis marks a positive new chapter for the Catholic Church; one that is much-needed for a religious institution marred in recent years by a detestable pedophilia scandal involving priests. The fact that Pope Francis is known in his home country as a humble man, who lived in a simple apartment, and cooked his own meals and mostly visited the poor, is a slathering of sweet icing atop the proverbial cake. In fact, his papal name is based on St. Francis of Assisi, a saint known for leading a life of poverty and simplicity and preaching peace. I’m sure some protests will surface about his past deeds or his present policies, for that matter. But let’s face it, it’s hard to lash out against a man who literally has kissed and washed the feet of drug addicts and ailing AIDS patients. I agree with one interviewee who told a reporter that this appointment is indicative that, “Hispanics are taking a step forward.” I will take that sentiment a bit further, however, and add that when diversity is embraced, we all tend to grow and progress in countless ways. It’s at these times that humankind, overall, takes yet another giant leap forward.