Pope Francis: Reconciling the past

IN TERMS of symbolism, Jorge Mario Bergoglio hasn’t put a foot wrong since becoming the first Jesuit and the first South American to be elected Pope and taking the name Francis.

But what makes him tick and what kind of pope will he turn out to be when he passes from symbolism to substance?

Unlike his predecessor Benedict XVI, who surprised everybody with his decision in February to abdicate, very little was known about Bergoglio prior to his election. Immediately after, the word went around that the man from Argentina had come second in the 2005 conclave that elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.