Right combination of heart and head that Church needs

“A Jesuit intellect and a Franciscan spirit may be exactly the combination of heart and head that the Church needs at this time.”

That was the reaction of Lord Alton, the former British Liberal Democrat MP, to the election of Pope Francis.

He sees the choice of name as having dual significance, evoking thoughts of the Church’s most revered saint, Francis of Assisi, and Francis Xavier, evangelist and co-founder of the Jesuit Order of which the new pope is a member.