Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela dead: Former president's famous speeches and letters

‘The struggle is my life’, press statement 26 June 1961

I am informed that a warrant for my arrest has been issued, and that the police are looking for me. I will not give myself up to a government I do not recognise. I have had to separate myself from my dear wife and children, from my mother and sisters, to live as an outlaw in my own land.

I have had to close my business, to abandon my profession, and live in poverty and misery, as many of my people are doing. I shall fight the government side by side with you, inch by inch, and mile by mile, until victory is won.

What are you going to do? Will you come along with us, or are you going to co-operate with the government in its efforts to suppress the claims and aspirations of your own people? Or are you going to remain silent and neutral in a matter of life and death to my people, to our people?

For my own part I have made my choice. I will not leave South Africa, nor will I surrender. Only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action can freedom be won.

The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days.

‘I am prepared to die’: Nelson Mandela's statement from the dock at the opening of the defence case in the Rivonia Trial Pretoria Supreme Court, 20 April 1964

The lack of human dignity experienced by Africans is the direct result of the policy of white supremacy.

White supremacy implies black inferiority. Legislation designed to preserve white supremacy entrenches this notion…Because of this sort of attitude, whites tend to regard Africans as a separate breed.

They do not look upon them as people with families of their own; they do not realize that they have emotions - that they fall in love like white people do; that they want to be with their wives and children like white people want to be with theirs; that they want to earn enough money to support their families properly, to feed and clothe them and send them to school. And what 'house-boy' or 'garden-boy' or labourer can ever hope to do this?

Poverty and the breakdown of family life have secondary effects….Life in the townships is dangerous. There is not a day that goes by without somebody being stabbed or assaulted. And violence is carried out of the townships in the white living areas.

People are afraid to walk alone in the streets after dark. We want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be permanent. I know this sounds revolutionary to the whites in this country, because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy.

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.
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NELSON MANDELA'S ADDRESS TO RALLY IN CAPE TOWN ON HIS RELEASE FROM PRISON, 11 February 1990

Friends, comrades and fellow South Africans.

I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all.

I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.

On this day of my release, I extend my sincere and warmest gratitude to the millions of my compatriots and those in every corner of the globe who have campaigned tirelessly for my release….

Today the majority of South Africans, black and white, recognise that apartheid has no future.

Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way. Universal suffrage on a common voters' role in a united democratic and non-racial South Africa is the only way to peace and racial harmony.
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NELSON MANDELA'S WEMBLEY SPEECH, London, Monday 16 April 1990

Master of Ceremonies, Distinguished artists, Members of the International Reception Committee, Dear friends here and elsewhere in the world:

Our first simple and happy task is to say thank you. Thank you very much to you all. Thank you that you chose to care, because you could have decided otherwise. Thank you that you elected not to forget, because our fate could have been a passing concern.

We are here today because for almost three decades you sustained a campaign for the unconditional release of all South African political prisoners. We are here because you took the humane decision that you could not ignore the inhumanity represented by the apartheid system.

Even through the thickness of the prison walls at Robben Island, Pollsmoor, Victor Verster, Pretoria, Kroonstad, Diepkloof and elsewhere, we heard your voices demanding our freedom. During all the days we spent buried in the apartheid dungeons, we never lost our confidence in the certainty of our release and our victory over the apartheid system. This was because we knew that not even the hard-hearted men of Pretoria could withstand the enormous strength represented by the concerted effort of the peoples of South Africa and the rest of the world…

We thank you especially for what you did to mark our 70th birthday.

What you did then made it possible for us all to do what we are doing here today.

Dear friends, it will not be long now before we see the end of the apartheid system. The dreams of millions of people to see our country free and at peace will be realised sooner rather than later.

We are determined to ensure that our country is transformed from being the skunk of the world into an exemplary oasis of unrivalled and excellent race relations, democracy for all, a just peace and freedom from poverty and human degradation.

Let us continue to march forward together for the realisation of that glorious vision. It will be a proud day for all humanity when we are all able to say that the apartheid crime against humanity is no more.

Then shall we all converge on the cities, towns and villages of South Africa to celebrate that moment when by ending the system of white minority domination, humanity will have ensured that never again shall the scourge of racial tyranny raise its ugly head.

You will all be welcome to attend those historic victory celebrations.
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SPEECH BY NELSON MANDELA ANNOUNCING THE ANC ELECTION VICTORY, Carlton Hotel, Johannesburg, 2 May 1994

My fellow South Africans - the people of South Africa: This is indeed a joyous night. Although not yet final, we have received the provisional results of the election, and are delighted by the overwhelming support for the African National Congress.

To all those in the African National Congress and the democratic movement who worked so hard these last few days and through these many decades, I thank you and honour you. To the people of

South Africa and the world who are watching: this a joyous night for the human spirit. This is your victory too. You helped end apartheid, you stood with us through the transition.

I watched, along with all of you, as the tens of thousands of our people stood patiently in long queues for many hours.

Some sleeping on the open ground overnight waiting to cast this momentous vote.

South Africa's heroes are legend across the generations. But it is you, the people, who are our true heroes.

This is one of the most important moments in the life of our country.

I stand here before you filled with deep pride and joy: - pride in the ordinary, humble people of this country. You have shown such a calm, patient determination to rectal this country as your own.- and joy that we can loudly proclaim from the rooftops - free at last!

I stand before you humbled by your courage, with a heart full of love for all of you. I regard it as the highest honour to lead the ANC at this moment in our history, and that we have been chosen to lead our country into the new century.

Tomorrow, the entire ANC leadership and I will be back at our desks.

We are rolling up our sleeves to begin tackling the problems our country faces. We ask you all to join us - go back to your jobs in the morning. Let's get South Africa working.…

Now is the time for celebration, for South Africans to join together to celebrate the birth of democracy. I raise a glass to you all for working so hard to achieve what can only be called a small miracle.

Let our celebrations be in keeping with the mood set in the elections, peaceful, respectful and disciplined, showing we are a people ready to assume the responsibilities of government.

I promise that I will do my best to be worthy of the faith and confidence you have placed in me and my organisation, the African National Congress. Let us build the future together, and toast a betterlife for all South Africans.
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NELSON MANDELA'S ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF CAPE TOWN, GRAND PARADE, ON THE OCCASION OF HIS INAUGURATION AS STATE PRESIDENT, Cape Town, 9 May 1994

Mr Master of Ceremonies, Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, My Fellow South Africans: Today we are entering a new era for our country and its people.

Today we celebrate not the victory of a party, but a victory for all the people of South Africa.

Our country has arrived at a decision.

The South Africa we have struggled for, in which all our people, be they African, Coloured, Indian or White, regard themselves as citizens of one nation is at hand.

Perhaps it was history that ordained that it be here, at the Cape of Good Hope that we should lay the foundation stone of our new nation. For it was here at this Cape, over three centuries ago, that there began the fateful convergence of the peoples of Africa, Europe and Asia on these shores.

It was to this peninsula that the patriots, among them many princes and scholars, of Indonesia were dragged in chains. It was on the sandy plains of this peninsula that first battles of the epic wars of resistance were fought.

When we look out across Table Bay, the horizon is dominated by Robben Island, whose infamy as a dungeon built to stifle the spirit of freedom is as old as colonialism in South Africa.

For three centuries that island was seen as a place to which outcasts can be banished.

The names of those who were incarcerated on Robben Island is a roll call of resistance fighters and democrats spanning over three centuries. If indeed this is a Cape of Good Hope, that hope owes much to the spirit of that legion of fighters and others of their calibre.

We have fought for a democratic constitution since the 1880s. Ours has been a quest for a constitution freely adopted by the people of South Africa, reflecting their wishes and their aspirations.

The struggle for democracy has never been a matter pursued by one race, class, religious community or gender among South Africans.

In honouring those who fought to see this day arrive, we honour the best sons and daughters of all our people.

We can count amongst them Africans, Coloureds, Whites, Indians, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Jews - all of them united by a common vision of a better life for the people of this country.

The task at hand on will not be easy. But you have mandated us to change South Africa from a country in which the majority lived with little hope, to one in which they can live and work with dignity, with a sense of self-esteem and confidence in the future.

To raise our country and its people from the morass of racism and apartheid will require determination and effort.

We place our vision of a new constitutional order for South Africa on the table not as conquerors, prescribing to the conquered. We speak as fellow citizens to heal the wounds of the past with the intent of constructing a new order based on justice for all.
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A letter from Nelson Mandela to Daily Mirror readers, July 2 2005

Dear Mirror Reader,

Today we live in a world that remains divided. A world in which we have made great progress and advances in science and technology.

But it is also a world where millions of children die because they have no access to medicines.

We live in a world where knowledge and information have made enormous strides, yet millions of children are not in school.

We live in a world where the Aids pandemic threatens the very fabric of our lives. Yet we spend more money on weapons than on ensuring treatment and support for the millions infected by HIV. It is a worldof great promise and hope. It is also a world of despair, disease and hunger.

Millions of people in the world's poorest countries are trapped in the prison of poverty.

It is time to set them free.

Poverty is not natural, it is man-made and can be overcome by the action of human beings.

The leaders of the world's richest countries - who meet at the G8 summit in Scotland next week - have already promised to focus on the issue of poverty, especially in Africa.

The steps they must take to bring this about are very clear and the first is ensuring trade justice.

The second is an end to the debt crisis for the poorest countries.

The third is to deliver much more aid and to make sure it is of the highest quality.

I say to all those leaders - do not look the other way, do not hesitate.

Recognise that the world is hungry for action not words.

You too have the opportunity to tell them that they must act with courage and vision.

Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great.

You can be that great generation.

Signed

N.R. Mandela.

Local Government referendum set to fail

Vote to bypass states doomed

• by: Adam Creighton and Christian Kerr
• From: The Australian
• May 15, 2013 12:00AM

A REFERENDUM to recognise local government in the Constitution is poised to fail as at least two states, key Liberal MPs and leading academics voice strident opposition to the proposal.

Hopes of bipartisanship -- considered crucial to the referendum's chances of success -- are crumbling and the NSW and Victorian state governments have announced their opposition to the referendum, which is designed to allow the federal government to bypass the states and fund local councils directly. Tony Abbott told the Coalition party room yesterday the referendum process had been mismanaged by the government and would almost certainly fail.

Local Government Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Friday that the referendum question would be put to a vote at the same time as the federal election, but the form of words for the question has not been revealed. The Australian learned yesterday that following advice from leading constitutional lawyer George Williams the wording will attempt to guarantee that the proposed change will not represent a federal takeover of the regulation of local government, ensuring local government bodies can only accept direct federal assistance when permitted to by state law.

But constitutional lawyer Greg Craven, deputy chairman of the COAG reform council, said the "dishonest" referendum was more about boosting commonwealth government power than supporting councils. "It will be sold as a modest change that will boost funding for local governments, but it's really about expanding commonwealth power," Professor Craven said. "It's like a scorpion, small but lethal."

The Coalition's position supports -- in principle -- ensuring the constitutional validity of payments to local government, attacks the government for not preparing the ground for the referendum and commits the opposition to campaigning for a change of government on September 14, not for a change to the Constitution. It is expected that at least four Coalition backbenchers will vote against the bill to establish the referendum. This will trigger a formal mechanism for putting a "No" case at the referendum, which will significantly reduce its chances of being carried.

Outspoken MP Cory Bernardi said he would be crossing the floor to vote against it, as he was opposed on principle to centralising more power in Canberra. "I hate the thought of a future Labor administration being able to determine what local governments can and cannot do," he said. Some Liberal Party state branches have been opposed to the idea, as well as it being voted down at the Liberal Party's federal council.

Former Treasury secretary and National Party senator John Stone said it was "an attack on the constitutional responsibilities of the states and yet another attempt to enhance the power of Canberra". He called it an attempt to distract voters and said: "As for the opposition, it passes belief that it would even consider drinking from this poisoned chalice."

Professor Craven, who campaigned for a "yes" in the failed 1999 referendum to make Australia a republic, said recognising local government would be an excuse for councils or the federal government to raise taxes.
"State governments will and should campaign stridently for a 'no' vote," the vice-chancellor of Australian Catholic University said. A spokesman for the Victorian Local Government Minister, Jeanette Powell, said they did not support the referendum and warned Victorian councils could be worse off with direct federal funding. "It could even lead to a funding formula put in pace, a bit like the GST, which would see Victorian councils, which are pretty well run and sustained, being punished by money being directed to other places."

WA Premier Colin Barnett said he was opposed to any move that would increase the Commonwealth's control of local government, though his government does not object to constitutional recognition on certain terms. "We would be prepared to support constitutional recognition of local government as long as it is recognised as a function of the state and does not give new powers over local government to the Commonwealth," he said. "We are yet to see the wording of the referendum question and will not be in a position to make any further comment until then."

NSW said the referendum was unnecessary, despite a High Court ruling which cast doubt on direct federal payments to local councils.But Queensland Local Government Minister David Crisafulli said the federal government should be able to fund local government directly. "Our number one priority is to make sure constitutional recognition allows councils to be funded directly by the federal government, rather than giving Canberra the ability to dictate to them from a place far, far away," he said.

Despite their opposition, it is unclear how vigorously NSW and Victoria will campaign against the referendum, if at all.John Wanna, professor of public administration at Australian National University, said the change would be constitutional "dynamite", representing a "substantial erosion of state power". "The Commonwealth could start running the health system or the forthcoming NDIS through councils and bypass the states altogether," he said. "The states will find it harder to sack corrupt councils or forcibly amalgamate them," he said, suggesting recognition would be implied in the constitution however modest the actual wording of the change.

Supporters want better recognition of local government and more secure access to Commonwealth funding. But Anne Twomey, a constitutional law professor at Sydney University, said:"I find it hard to believe a single councillor will get one iota more respect after such a constitutional change." She said the referendum's success would "permit the Commonwealth to engage in pork-barrelling before elections through local councils, where such action might otherwise be unconstitutional," and prompt growth in bureaucracy in Canberra."The Commonwealth can already give as much money as it wants to the states through section 96 of the constitution". The professor said Victoria and NSW stood to lose the most, as federal funding for councils was based on states' populations. "Ultimately, the Commonwealth could come up with a different funding formula that broke that link" she said.
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Margaret Thatcher dies aged 87

Margaret Thatcher, who has died at the age of 87. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

The UK's first female prime minister changed way Britons viewed politics and economics'

Margaret Thatcher, the most dominant British prime minister since Winston Churchill in 1940 and a global champion of the late 20th century free market economic revival, has died. Her spokesman, Lord Bell, said on Monday: "It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning.

Downing Street announced that she would receive a ceremonial funeral with military honours at St Paul's Cathedral. David Cameron, who is cutting short his trip to Europe to return to London following the news, said: "It was with great sadness that l learned of Lady Thatcher's death. We've lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton." Buckingham Palace said the Queen was sad to hear the news and that she would be sending a private message of sympathy to the family.




The first woman elected to lead a major western state, Lady Thatcher, as she became after the longest premiership since 1827, served 11 unbroken years at No 10. She was only overthrown by an internal Tory party coup in 1990 after her reckless promotion of the poll tax led to rioting in Trafalgar Square. Thatcher who was 87, had been in declining health for some years, suffering from dementia. The death of Sir Denis Thatcher, her husband of 50 years and closest confidante, intensified her isolation in what had proved a frustrating retirement, despite energetic worldwide activity in the early years.



After a series of mini-strokes in 2002 Thatcher withdrew from public life, no longer able to make the kind of waspish pronouncements that had been her forte in office – and beyond. Her death was greeted with tributes from across the political spectrum. The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, said: "Margaret Thatcher was one of the defining figures in modern British politics. "Whatever side of the political debate you stand on, no one can deny that as prime minister she left a unique and lasting imprint on the country she served. She may have divided opinion during her time in politics but everyone will be united today in acknowledging the strength of her personality and the radicalism of her politics."

The work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, said: "Watching her set out to change Britain for the better in 1979 made me believe there was, at last, real purpose and real leadership in politics once again. She bestrode the political world like a colossus." The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "Her memory will live long after the world has forgotten the grey suits of today's politics." The "Iron Lady" proved a significant cold war ally of US president Ronald Reagan in the final showdown with the Soviet Union, which broke up under reformist pressures led by Mikhail Gorbachev, a Kremlin leader with whom Thatcher famously declared she could "do business". As a result, many ordinary voters in ex-Soviet bloc states saw her as a bold champion of their liberty, a view widely shared across the spectrum of mainstream US opinion – though not at home or among key EU partners. Thatcher was an unremarkable mid-ranking Conservative politician – known chiefly for being a "milk-snatching" education secretary under Edward Heath (1970-74) – until she unexpectedly overthrew her twice-defeated boss to become party leader in 1975.Within a decade Thatcher had become known around the world – both admired and detested – for her pro-market domestic reforms and her implacable attitudes in foreign policy, including her long-running battle with the IRA, which almost managed to murder her when it placed a bomb in the Grand Hotel, Brighton in 1984.

At home the emerging doctrine of Thatcherism meant denationalisation of state-owned industry – the new word "privatisation" came into widespread use in many countries – and defeat of militant trade unionists, notably the National Union of Miners (NUM), whose year-long strike (1984-85) was bitter and traumatic. Boosted by the newly arrived revenues from Britain's North Sea oil fields, Thatcher had room to manoeuvre and reform the ageing industrial economy in ways denied to postwar predecessors, and she used the opportunity to quell her enemies – including moderate "wets" in her own party and cabinet. But she also deployed her notorious "handbaggings" in the European Union to obtain a British rebate – "my money," as she called it. She was less successful in fending off the centralising ambitions of the "Belgian empire", her description of the European commission, especially in the years when it was headed by the French socialist Jacques Delors.

A further sign of her losing her grip came when Thatcher, long a sympathiser with the apartheid regime in South Africa against the liberation movement, dismissed Nelson Mandela as a terrorist. Her allies in the tabloid press, notably Rupert Murdoch's Sun, egged her on. And, as the British economy recovered from the severe recession that her monetarist medicine had inflicted on it – to tame the unions and cure inflation – she briefly seemed invincible. But untrammelled power, the defeat or retirement of allies who had kept her in check, led to mistakes and growing unpopularity. When Sir Geoffrey Howe, nominally her deputy, finally fell out with Thatcher – chiefly over Europe – his devastating resignation speech triggered Michael Heseltine's leadership challenge. It had been expected since he resigned as defence secretary over the Westland helicopter affair in 1986, Thatcher's closest previous brush with political death. Heseltine denied her outright victory in the first round of voting – then confined only to MPs – and she made way for John Major rather than risk losing to him in the second ballot.

In retirement she wrote highly successful memoirs in two volumes and campaigned energetically on behalf of the Thatcher Foundation, which sought to promote her values – free markets and Anglo-Saxon liberties – around the world. Speaking engagements made her moderately wealthy and she made her final home in London's Belgravia.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/gallery/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-life-in-pictures

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Tribute to Bryan Law 1954 - 2013

by Ross Parisi on Tuesday, 2 April 2013 

PublicFriendsFriends except acquaintancesOnly meCustomClose FriendsJames Cook University Cairns CampusSee all lists...Mulgrave Shie Council 1976-1989, 1994Mac Donnell Law 1973-5Cairns, Queensland, Australia AreaSt Augustine College CairnsRoss Parisi TrustFamilyAcquaintancesGo Back

How does one accept such sad news without asking why and why now. Each one of us will have enduring memories of a man I affectionately called the 'big fella.'

I will miss him for a multitude of reasons but most of all because of his beliefs, his integrity and his tenacity to right the things he saw wrong. He had an astonishing ability to inspire strength where there was weakness and determination where there was intrepidation.

Ridicule and derision, by his political adversaries did not penetrate his shield of honor. Indeed, it made him stronger and more determined to strive for what he believed in. It made him resilient. 

His ability to articulate and persuade were virtues that most of us at best can only aspire too. 

He detested the abuse of power, particularly by those in authority. He saw through the shallowness of impostors and pretenders. 

But surrounded by all that, inside was a gentle man and a sensitive man, a caring man that loved his family, like only he could.

Bryan, you will be sadly missed not only by your family, but by your friends and foes alike. 

My heartfelt condolences are extended to his loving wife Margaret and to his cherished son Joseph.

I will miss you too, big fella.

Bryan Law

Paul Keating ex Prime Minister of Australia | and insightful interview

You don't have to be a true believer to recognise there are few in public life who make an idea sing the way Paul Keating does. And here, in this Sydney Writers Festival special event, he's in full stride speaking with the ABC's Kerry O'Brien.

Known as much for his acerbic tongue as for his economic reform, Paul Keating lives up to his reputation at this Sydney Writers' Festival Special Event. The anecdotes flow thick and fast, from reflections on an indignant childhood to the new domestic carbon tax, to the larger geopolitical stage and the opportunities missed by both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

According to Keating, Obama should have had the sword out from Day One. Instead, he's been too concerned with sending all the customers away satisfied. Keating quotes one of his mentors, Jack Lang: "In political life, you need a decent stock of enemies".

In a wide-ranging conversation with the ABC's Kerry O'Brien, the loose focus is "After Words", Keating's new collection of post prime ministerial speeches. As you'll see, Keating is clearly enjoying being centre stage once again.

Paul Keating became Australia's 24th Prime Minister in 1991 after successfully challenging Bob Hawke for the Labor leadership, and won the so-called "unwinnable" election just over a year later. During office, he introduced compulsory superannuation, deregulated the financial sector and floated the Australian dollar. He was defeated at the 1996 election by his long-time nemesis John Howard, but remains an ebullient contributor to the Australian economic and political arenas. He has recently published a book, "After Words: Post-Prime Ministerial Speeches".

Kerry O'Brien is an Australian journalist based in Sydney. He is the former editor and longtime host of "The 7.30 Report" on the ABC and the present host of the current affairs show "Four Corners".

O'Brien has had roles as a general reporter, feature writer, political and foreign correspondent, interviewer and compere, and also served as press secretary to then Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=G4pEc0ZIdYU

 Paul Keating ex Prime Minister of Australia 1991 to 1996

 

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Pope Francis wants 'poor Church for the poor'

Michael Hirst BBC News, Rome

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21812545

Pope Francis has said he wants "a poor Church, for the poor" following his election as head of the world's 1.2bn Catholics on Wednesday. He said he chose the name Francis after 12-13th Century St Francis of Assisi, who represented "poverty and peace". He urged journalists to get to know the Church with its "virtues and sins" and to share its focus on "truth, goodness and beauty". Pope Francis takes over from Benedict XVI, who abdicated last month. The former Argentine cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, was the surprise choice of cardinals meeting in Rome to choose a new head of the Church.

Divulging details of the conclave is punishable by excommunication. Only the Pope can release his electors from the vow of secrecy.Which is a good thing, because speaking in fluent Italian - and often off the cuff - to journalists in a packed Paul VI Hall, Pope Francis told of the moment he was elected. When he passed the crucial two-thirds threshold, his close friend, the Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes hugged him, kissed him and entreated: "Don't forget the poor!" "And that word went in here," said the new Pope, pointing to his head.

It's widely thought that each cardinal has a name up their sleeve before the election, just in case, but the 76-year-old Argentine suggested his choice was spontaneous. The son of an aristocrat, St Francis of Assisi spurned a life of luxury to live with and for the poor. The new Pope, the son of an Italian railway worker, said how he was inspired by the 13th Century Italian saint who was a man of both poverty and peace. "How I wish the Church could become poor again," he said. In his first audience at the Vatican, he said Jesus Christ and not the Pope was the centre of the Church, which he stressed was "spiritual not political" in nature.

He said the Holy Spirit had inspired the resignation of Benedict XVI and guided the cardinals choosing him as the next pontiff. The Pope said he had been inspired to take the name Francis by a Brazilian colleague who embraced him and whispered "don't forget the poor" when it was announced that he had been elected Pope. He said he immediately thought of St Francis of Assisi, the Italian founder of the Franciscan Order who was devoted to the poor.

As well as representing poverty and peace, he said St Francis "loved and looked after" creation - and he noted that humanity was "not having a good relationship with nature at the moment". St Francis of Assisi is said to have loved animals as his "brothers and sisters" and even to have preached to birds. Humour
There had been speculation that Pope Francis - who was a member of the Jesuit order - had chosen his name in honour of St Francis Xavier, a 16th Century Jesuit missionary in Asia. But he said this was not the case.

The new Pope's style is very different to that of his predecessor, BBC Vatican correspondent David Willey says. He talks in simple, easy to understand terms about ethical values and shows a remarkable sense of humour, our correspondent says. Earlier, the Vatican said Pope Francis would visit his predecessor Pope emeritus Benedict next week.Pope Benedict, 85, became the first Pope in 600 years to abdicate last month when he said old age and health meant he could no longer continue in the job.

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Save City Place - make it WOW! '

City Place - Reasons why 'Save City Place - make it WOW', rejects Options 1 and 2, but supports Option 3

OPTION 1:  Open City Place to buses and cars, develop the Shield St extensions

OPTION 2:  Open City Place to buses only

OPTION 3:  Revitalise City Place as a pedestrian-only precinct

Silvia, and Geoff Holland with CRC Security Officer looking on.

Why we wish to retain and revitalise City Place as a pedestrian precinct

1.       City Place is the Heart of Cairns.  In 2011 Cairns Regional Council announced they were not going to destroy City Place, merely move it into the corridor between Lake St and Grafton St.  It would be called the “Heart of Shields St”.  In March 2013, Cairns Regional Council announced that the “Heart of Shields St” would be relocated into the corridor between Lake St and Abbott St.  It would no longer be called the “Heart of Shields St”.  Council’s landscape architect Jez Clark, who came up with council’s latest design, said “I think the heart idea is quite strange in a sense in that it’s a lineal, it’s..  my heart’s kind of in one place [forming a circle with his hands].  I think it’s more of a lineal sort of experience.”  Jez Clark admits – the Heart of Cairns is gone in his latest design.

2.       City Place is our Town Square.  A Town Square is the most important civic space where citizens can gather to discuss issues and to defend the social and democratic values of their community and country.  The significance of Town Squares has a history going back hundreds of years in Europe and elsewhere.  It took 130 years for Melbourne to establish a Town Square because New South Wales Governor George Gipps specifically banned in 1838 the creation of open squares because he believed they would only encourage democracy.  

City Place is where Mabo Day and NAIDOC Week have traditionally been launched.  A significant rally was held there by unions in September 2012.  The Cairns City Forum earlier in 2012 gave an opportunity for the public to ask questions directly to candidates of both the State and Local elections, a forum facilitated by Toastmasters International.  A free speech podium is located in City Place to allow anyone to have their say.  Earth Hour has been celebrated in City Place.

The corridor between Lake St and Abbott St on Shields St is not appropriate as a meeting place.  Jez Clark has described how the proposed splash base fountain can be switched off so the audience for an event can stand in the fountain.  This is unsatisfactory.  We need a grassy terraced amphitheatre with shade from the sun and shelter from the rain in front of the stage as we propose in Option 3 where the current performance stage is located.

3.       City Place is a focal point and meeting place.  Visitors enjoy and benefit from a focal point to orient themselves in a city.  City Place is that focal point.  It is a meeting point.  A major iconic fountain or waterfall in City Place which would be a signature landmark for Cairns, would further define a focal point and meeting place for the City.

4.       City Place is a unique space.  It is the only place in the Cairns CBD with four heritage buildings on all corners including historic Hides Hotel and the School of Arts building where the Cairns Museum is located.  It has a magnificent fig tree on one side.  It is close enough to the ocean to catch the sea breezes.

5.       City Place has a special history.  Located beside Gimuy Lagoon, it was a meeting place of the Gimuy Wallabarra Clan for over a thousand years.  Gimuy Lagoon still exists under Rockmans, Woolworths and Orchid Plaza.  A creek still runs underground from the lagoon down Shields St, under the Esplanade Lagoon and out to sea.  The Aborigines of the Gimuy Wallabarra Clan made shields from the buttress roots of the Gimuy fig trees (slippery blue figs) that grew around the lagoon.  They did this without killing the trees.  Gimuy is the original name for Cairns.  This history could be depicted in interpretive signs and Aboriginal public art reflecting the water stories of the original inhabitants.

Mayor Cr. Bob Manning

Reasons why we reject OPTION 1 and OPTION 2

1.       There is no reason to open City Place to vehicles.  We were told it was necessary to open City Place to buses because we needed an efficient bus service.  But the creation of an ambiguous and dangerous “shared zone” with all buses having to weave through one of the busiest pedestrian zones in the CBD will  But the Cairns Transit Network in the city will get rid of all bus stops in the CBD except one pair located on Lake St at Aplin St.  This means bus commuters will have to walk much further to get to their destination, including elderly, disabled and young parents with toddlers, in the hot tropical sun and heavy tropical downpours.

2.       Bus stops reduced from 10 to 2.  The Cairns Transit Network in the city will get rid of all bus stops in the CBD except one pair located on Lake St at Aplin St.  This means bus commuters will have to walk much further to get to their destination, including elderly, disabled and young parents with toddlers, in the hot tropical sun and heavy tropical downpours.  The Cairns Transit Network would actually reduce amenity for bus passengers!  Under Option 3 we would develop existing bus stops in Abbott St (near Woolworths, Orchid Plaza), a pair of bus stops on Spence St between Grafton and Sheridan St, and a pair if bus stops on McLeod St between Shields St and Aplin St.  Bus passengers could then access any bus route in Cairns from any of these bus stops, and they would provide good coverage of the CBD.  Under this plan, bus stops would be removed from Lake St.

3.       No more Heart of Cairns, only a “lineal experience”.  Option 1 and Option 2 would relocate City Place into the Heart of Shields St – in the corridor between Abbott St and Lake St.  This is a corridor space not a focal point – a Heart of the City.  Council architect Jez Clark said “I think the heart idea is quite strange in a sense that it’s a lineal, it’s...  My heart’s [indicates round shape of a heart with his hands] kind of in one place.  I think it’s more of a lineal sort of experience and I think it’s difficult to talk when you use that language.”  But Jez, we want a City Heart!

4.       No performances permitted.  Existing city ordinances would not allow performances in this corridor because of noise regulations.  Noise regulations allow performances in City Place because Cairns Regional Council have known  this open space can manage and tolerate increased noise levels, unlike the corridor between Lake St and Abbott St which is a relatively closed space, and has a more direct impact on local businesses at close range.

5.       Performing artists say not a performance space.  Bands and performing artists have signed a petition saying the corridor space between Lake and Abbott St on Shields St is not an appropriate space for performances.

6.       The audience has to stand.  Under Option 1 and Option 2, the audience of the performance stage would have to stand in the “splash base” fountain area.  This is because there is limited space.  Under Option 3, on the other hand, the grassy area in front of the performance stage in City Place would be expanded into a larger shaded terraced grassy amphitheatre.  People would not have to stand up to watch a performance but could relax on the grass.

7.       Two pedestrian zones cut by a busy road.  Under Option 1 and Option 2 we are supposedly creating two City Places either side of Lake St for pedestrians but it is cut in two by a busy road with all buses passing through at slow speed suggesting bottlenecks and queues. 

8.       The road would be even hotter than City Place is now.  What little shade we still have will be removed to make way for the road.

9.       There would be no truly pedestrian-only zones in the CBD – just ‘shared zones’.  The Shields St extensions (between Abbott and Lake St, and between Lake and Grafton St) will not be pedestrian only.  They will be “shared zones” with some vehicle access.  City Place is our only truly pedestrian zone in the CBD and we wish to keep it!

10.   No major fountain / waterfall focus.  Option 1 and Option 2 provide 6 mediocre off-the-shelf water features.  Option 3 would provide one large iconic fountain or waterfall in City Place which would signify the Heart of Cairns, a meeting place.  It would be a signature for Cairns, the Reef and the rainforest.  Visitors would come to have their [photos taken in front of the fountain / waterfall and show friends back in their home country.  Locals would meet there as it would be an unmistakeable pinpoint landmark.  Option 3 would also provide a number of lesser water features.

11.   Heavy vehicles may put heritage buildings at risk.  City Place is the only square in Cairns that has heritage buildings on all four corners.  City Place is also built on swamp, and the ground is susceptible to movement.  Having all buses drive past these heritage buildings regularly, particularly Hides Hotel and the School of the Arts building where Cairns Museum is located, could damage these buildings over time.

12.   No children’s playground.  Option 1 and Option 2 would get rid of the children’s playground in Shields St between Lake St and Abbott St replacing it with the performance stage.  While there would be a “splash base” fountain, this would be intermittent and not a regular play structure for children.  Under Option 3 the children’s play structures would remain and there would be a splash base fountain with shade sails similar to Muddies Playground.

Proposed demolition of City Place.

Features of Option 3

1.       Tropical oasis.  Under Option 3 City Place would become a tropical oasis – a cool space where people can relax during the heat of the day.

2.       Large native tropical shade trees.  When Council removed the large shade trees some years ago, City Place became too hot for people to spend time in during the day.  They replanted with Brazilian leopard trees which were inappropriate and have not provided adequate shade.  Mature native shade trees can be planted if pruned before planting.  A full canopy can be achieved within 1 year (tourist resorts plant mature trees all the time).

3.       Grassy seating area.  Locals remember the grassy hill where people used to relax.  Under Option 3, the grassy area in front of the performance stage would be expanded into a larger terraced grassy amphitheatre.  It would have shade from the sun and shelter from the rain allowing performances and other events even when raining.

4.       State-of-the-art performance stage.  Performers were never consulted over the previous design of the performance stage and as a result it is largely dysfunctional as it does not provide protection from the elements, has not facilities for changing, and does not provide acoustical projection.  A new state-of-the-art performance stage may incorporate some of the existing stage.  However the design process would be sure to consult with local performing artists and look at best practice around the world.

5.       Iconic fountain/waterfall.  Option 1 and 2 offer 6 minor water features taken off-the-shelf.  Option 3 would see a City Place designed around one major iconic water feature, plus a number of minor water features such as a splash base fountain in Shields St next to the children’s playground, and another between Lake and Grafton St on Shields St, and another on Lake St behind the performance stage – an area which would be developed for outdoor dining and cafés.  This iconic fountain/waterfall would be a landmark.  It would be a signature for Cairns reflecting the local Aboriginal culture, and the water stories of Far North tropical rainforest.  It would be a place which visitors have heard of before they even arrive in Cairns, and go there to have their photo taken so show friends back home.  It would be a meeting place for locals.  It would help cool the tropical oasis in City Place.

6.       Tourist Information Kiosk.  A small stylish tourist information kiosk would be located in City Place.  This would double as a Police Beat Desk.  Amongst other things this Tourist Information Kiosk would have brochures on “What’s On in Cairns”, and also bus timetables and a map of bus routes in Cairns and the region.

7.       24/7 Police Beat Desk.  There was previously a Police Beat office in City Place, but this was moved down to the Esplanade Lagoon.  There is a need to establish a Police Beat Desk once again.  There would be two police officers on duty all the time.  They would have a mobile phone, and this mobile number would be made public to all shop owners, and the names of those on duty would be available on a roster on the Web.  The mobile phone would be handed to the next pair of officers when changing shift.  Ideally the police officers would be Aboriginal and specially trained in Aboriginal Liaison, and well as Tourist Liaison.  They may have special colourful uniforms.  They would patrol City Place and the extensions for 100m in every direction. 

8.       Public art.  We have seen successful examples of public art on the Esplanade and other locations around Cairns.  City Place also deserves quality public art.  This art, including sculpture and mosaics, could reflect the waterstories of the original Aboriginal Bama inhabitants of City Place, the Gimuy Yidinji people.

9.       Historical interpretive signs.  Interpretive signs could relate the history of Gimuy Lagoon located at City Place, the gimuy trees whose buttress roots were used to make shields.  They could form part of a historical walk and relate to the Cairns Museum located in City Place.  The signs could also relate to the history of the heritage buildings located on each corner of City Place.

                                          __________________  |  ___________________

Italy Did Not Just Send in The Clowns

Why The Political Stalemate Is a Warning to Democracies Everywhere

Jonathan Hopkin

March 11, 2013

Prime Minister Mario Monti's recent resignation and former Prime Minister Silivio Berlusconi’s return to politics are unlikely to be game changers. In fact, they are simply the latest examples of a broader problem in Italian politics: the inability of conservatives to build a credible political party.

 

Silvio Berlusconi in 2011. (Tony Gentile / Courtesy Reuters)

Italy's inconclusive election on February 25 did nothing to help the country's image abroad. In noting that more than half of Italians cast their vote for either Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister, or Beppe Grillo, leader of the Five Stars Movement, international observers resorted to familiar tropes. Painting Italy's political system as farcical and chaotic, the German Social Democratic leader Peer Steinbrück commented that Italy had elected two clowns.  Of course one of them, Grillo, is an actual comedian, whose party polled an extraordinary 25 percent of the vote in its first national election. But Steinbrück should not have been so quick to condemn: the results of the Italian election are a reflection -- albeit an exaggerated one -- of trends that all European democracies are facing.

Italy's political impasse is the direct result of declining popular support for the two broad political coalitions that have shaped its politics for the last two decades: the center-left, currently organized around the Democratic Party (PD), and the conservatives, dominated by the People of Freedom (PDL), led by Berlusconi. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, one of these coalitions generally won enough parliamentary seats to form a government, albeit often by including unpredictable minor parties in their governing majority.
This time, though, neither has garnered anywhere near enough support to form a government. The Italian constitution requires a government to win a majority in both houses of parliament before it can take the reins. The PD has a comfortable majority in the lower house, thanks mostly to electoral laws that grant a generous number of bonus house seats to the winning coalition. The party is far short of majority in the Senate, though, since the law allocates Senate bonus seats at the regional level, which benefited the PD and PDL more or less equally.

The current Italian electoral law was passed in 2005 by Berlusconi's government in an attempt to cement his grip on power. By allocating seat bonuses to the winning coalition, it was supposed to ensure a secure parliamentary majority for the government. But this only works if the two main coalitions dominate the contest. Together, the lists of Pier Luigi Bersani (of the PD) and Berlusconi pulled in only 59 percent of the vote in this election, almost 30 points fewer than their results in the last election in 2008. Widespread surprise at the Berlusconi coalition's strong comeback in the election, coming close to winning victory in the lower house, has distracted from the fact that it has hemorrhaged more than seven million votes since 2008. The center-left coalition, meanwhile, lost more than three and half million votes. The outgoing prime ,minister, Mario Monti, who unwisely stood at the head of a centrist coalition, also performed well below expectations, coming in at only ten percent of the vote.

One reading of this extraordinary outcome is that it was a protest against the painful spending cuts, tax increases, and economic reforms that Monti's government implemented as a precondition (albeit an unstated one) for European Central Bank support. The fact that, together, Grillo, who promised a referendum on the euro, and Berlusconi, who took a euroskeptic stance throughout 2012, won more than half of the votes was described by the economist Joseph Stiglitz as "a clear message to Europe's leaders: the austerity policies that they have pursued are being rejected by voters."

But the Italian election is telling us much more than that. In fact, Grillo's party, founded only in 2009, focused less on euroskepticism than on a blanket rejection of the established Italian political elite and its way of doing politics. Rejecting traditional campaign techniques in favor of social media, the party pushed its agenda of, first, ending the generous state subsidies and salaries paid to Italy's political parties and elected politicians and, second, replacing them with a vaguely conceived Internet-based representation system. The Grillo phenomenon is a challenge not only to austerity politics, but to the traditional party system itself. The economic crisis gave Grillo a favorable wind, but his offensive against Italy's corrupt and self-serving politicians was brewing even before the downturn began.

It would be unwise to dismiss the election results as yet another Italian anomaly. All across Europe, membership of political parties is at its lowest level since the World War II. Voters are also less loyal than ever to traditional parties -- they are more likely to switch votes to a rival party or an entirely new one. Only days after Grillo's triumph, the UK Independence Party, which campaigns for British withdrawal from the EU, came to within 2,000 votes of winning a by-election held to replace a disgraced Liberal Democrat MP, pushing the ruling Conservatives into third place. And the success of the Pirate Party in Sweden, the anti-Islam party led by Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, and more established populist parties such as the French Front National, confirm that Italy is far from being an outlier.

The economic crisis in Europe is threatening the very survival of the mainstream political parties. European citizens have been showing signs of frustration and dissatisfaction with their elected politicians for years. Even before the crisis, voters had tired of choosing between broadly similar political parties whose policy options are constrained by European laws or the pressures of globalization. Faced with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, this frustration is boiling over into resentment and rejection. And the imposition of draconian measures by supranational institutions only makes things worse. All that has created a crisis of legitimacy for Europe's ailing political parties. If the established political class can be blown out of the water in Italy, politicians Europe-wide must be wondering how safe they are from a similar fate. Political parties not only need to address the economic crisis, they also need to reconnect with voters and revitalize their central role in democratic politics. If they do not, what happened in Italy may soon repeat.

                                           _________________   |   ________________

Francis's humility on display from day one as new Pope

• From: AP
• March 15, 2013 10:18AM  

Pope Francis conducts his first public Mass

Pope's chosen name raises interest in St. Francis.

A gentle wave symbolises the man

The face of humility

Pope Francis put his humility on display during his first day as pontiff, stopping by his hotel to pick up his luggage and pay the bill himself in a decidedly different style of papacy than his tradition-minded predecessor, who tended to stay ensconced in the frescoed halls of the Vatican. The break from Benedict XVI's pontificate was evident even in Francis' wardrobe choices: He kept the simple pectoral cross of his days as bishop and eschewed the red cape that Benedict wore when he was presented to the world for the first time in 2005 - choosing instead the simple white cassock of the papacy. 

The difference in style was a sign of Francis' belief that the Catholic Church needs to be at one with the people it serves and not imposing its message on a society that often doesn't want to hear it, Francis' authorised biographer, Sergio Rubin, said. "It seems to me for now what is certain is it's a great change of style, which for us isn't a small thing," Rubin said, recalling how the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio would celebrate Masses with ex-prostitutes in Buenos Aires. He believes the church has to go to the streets," he said, "to express this closeness of the church and this accompaniment with the people who suffer.

Francis began his first day as pope making an early morning visit in a simple Vatican car to a Roman basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary and prayed before an icon of the Madonna. He had told a crowd of some 100,000 people packed in rain-soaked St Peter's Square just after his election that he intended to pray to the Madonna "that she may watch over all of Rome." He also told cardinals he would call on retired Pope Benedict XVI, but the Vatican said the visit wouldn't take place for a few days.

The main item on Francis' agenda was an inaugural afternoon Mass in the Sistine Chapel, where he warned that the Catholic Church risked becoming little more than a charity with no spiritual foundations if it fails to undergo renewal. Addressing the cardinals who elected him as Latin America's first pope, the 76-year-old Argentinian said the church could "end up a compassionate NGO", using an Italian word that can also mean "pitiful". "I would like all of us after these days of grace to have the courage to walk in the presence of the Lord," Francis said, amid the splendour of the Sistine Chapel. He warned the cardinals against "the worldliness of the Devil". "Walking, building and confessing are not so easy. Sometimes there are tremors," the Pope said, in a homily that will be scrutinised for clues to the style of his leadership.

Francis, the first Jesuit pope and first non-European since the Middle Ages, decided to call himself Francis after St Francis of Assisi, the humble friar who dedicated his life to helping the poor. The new pope, known for his work with the poor in Buenos Aires' slums, immediately charmed the crowd in St Peter's, which roared when his name was announced and roared again when he emerged on the loggia of the basilica with a simple and familiar: "Brothers and sisters, good evening."

By the morning, members of his flock were similarly charmed when Francis stopped by the Vatican-owned residence where he routinely stays during visits to Rome and where he stayed before the start of the conclave to pick up his luggage, pay the bill and greet staff. "He wanted to come here because he wanted to thank the personnel, people who work in this house," said The Reverend Pawel Rytel-Andrianek, who is staying at the residence. "He greeted them one by one, no rush, the whole staff, one by one." "People say that he never in these 20 years asked for a (Vatican) car," he said. "Even when he went for the conclave with a priest from his diocese, he just walked out to the main road, he picked up a taxi and went to the conclave. So very simple for a future pope."

Francis displayed that same sense of simplicity and humility immediately after his election, shunning the special sedan that was to transport him to the hotel so he could ride on the bus with other cardinals, and refusing even an elevated platform from which he would greet them, according to US Cardinal Timothy Dolan. "He met with us on our own level," Cardinal Dolan said. "I think we're going to see a call to Gospel simplicity," said US Cardinal Donald Wuerl. "He is by all accounts a very gentle but firm, very loving but fearless, a very pastoral and caring person ideal for the challenges today."

During dinner, Francis, however, acknowledged the daunting nature of those challenges in a few words addressed to the cardinal electors: "'May God forgive you for what you have done,"' Francis said, according to witnesses. The Vatican spokesman the Reverend Federico Lombardi acknowledged the difference in style between the two popes, attributing it to Francis' life work as the pastor of Buenos Aires whereas Benedict was long an academic. He said it was too early to make a "profound evaluation" of Francis' priorities, urging instead reflection on his first few homilies - particularly at his installation Mass on Tuesday.

Just hours after his election as leader of the Catholic world, an Italian journalist in Rome said the first thing Pope Francis did was to call her up for a friendly chat. "The phone rang... My son picked it up and it was the pope," Stefania Falasca, a former editor for a Catholic monthly, told Italian media. "At home we just called him 'father', we never called him 'eminence'. I didn't know what to say. I asked him 'Father, what am I meant to call you? Holy Father?"' she said. "He laughed and he told me 'The first phone call I wanted to make was to say hello to you, Gianni and the kids,"' she said.

Meanwhile, the woman who has known him her whole life had nothing but sympathy for the newly-elected pope. "Poor man," said Pope Francis's sister, Maria Elena Bergoglio, his only still-living sibling, as she imagined his thoughts just before walking out on the balcony before the massive crowd in St Peter's Square in his first appearance as the pontiff. And yet, "how exciting, to hear the crowd cheering, 'Long live the Pope!" she mused. She said she cried when she heard the news, and only wants "to give a hug" to her big brother, 11 years her senior.

Dressed austerely in a dark green sweater and with barely combed grey hair, she agreed to talk to dozens of reporters waiting outside her home in a middle class neighbourhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. She said she never expected her brother to be Pope. "My brother fulfilled his duties, with increasingly more responsibilities, but I never believed this," she confessed. She said she couldn't predict what her brother will do as Pope, but noted that "his inclination" has always been "to work for the poor, the most marginalised".

The 76-year-old former Cardinal Bergoglio, said to have finished second when Pope Benedict XVI was elected in 2005, was chosen on just the fifth ballot to replace the first pontiff to resign in 600 years. Francis urged the crowd to pray for Benedict and immediately after his election spoke by phone with the retired pope, who has been living at the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo south of Rome. A visit to Benedict would be significant because Benedict's resignation has raised concerns about potential power conflicts emerging from the peculiar situation of having a reigning pope and a retired one.

Benedict's longtime aide, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, accompanied Francis to the visit at St Mary Major. In addition to being Benedict's secretary, Monsignor Gaenswein is also the prefect of the papal household and will be arranging the new pope's schedule. Like many Latin American Catholics, Francis has a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary, and his visit to the basilica was a reflection of that. He prayed before a Byzantine icon of Mary and the infant Jesus, the Protectress of the Roman People. "He had a great devotion to this icon of Mary and every time he comes from Argentina he visits this basilica," said one of the priests at the basilica, the Rev Elio Montenero. "We were surprised today because he did not announce his visit."

He then also went into the main altar area of the basilica and prayed before relics of the manger in Bethlehem where Jesus is said to have been born - an important pilgrimage spot for Jesuits Francis' election elated Latin America, home to 40 per cent of the world's Catholics which has nevertheless long been underrepresented in the church leadership. Drivers honked their horns in the streets of Buenos Aires and television announcers screamed with elation at the news.

Cardinal Thomas Collins, the archbishop of Toronto, said the cardinals clearly chose Francis because he was simply "the best person to lead the church." "I can't speak for all the cardinals but I think you see what a wonderful pope he is," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "He's just a very loving, wonderful guy. We just came to appreciate the tremendous gifts he has. He's much beloved in his diocese in Argentina. He has a great pastoral history of serving people."

The new pontiff brings a common touch. The son of middle-class Italian immigrants, he denied himself the luxuries that previous cardinals in Buenos Aires enjoyed. He lived in a simple apartment, often rode the bus to work, cooked his own meals and regularly visited slums that ring Argentina's capital. "If he brings that same desire for a simple lifestyle to the papal court, I think they are all going to be in shock," said the Rev Thomas Reese, author of Inside the Vatican, an authoritative book on the Vatican bureaucracy. "This may not be a man who wants to wear silk and furs." Francis considers social outreach, rather than doctrinal battles, to be the essential business of the church.

As the 266th pope, Francis inherits a Catholic church in turmoil, beset by the clerical sex abuse scandal, internal divisions and dwindling numbers in parts of the world where Christianity had been strong for centuries. While Latin America is still very Catholic, it has faced competition from aggressive evangelical churches that have chipped away at strongholds such as Brazil, where the number of Catholics has dropped from 74 percent of the population in 2000 to 65 per cent today. Like Europe, secularism has also taken hold: more and more people simply no longer identify themselves with any organised religion.

Francis also inherits a Vatican bureaucracy in need of sore reform. The leaks of papal documents last year exposed the petty turf battles and allegations of corruption in the Holy See administration. One of his most important and watched appointments will be that of his secretary of state, who effectively runs the Holy See. Rev Lombardi said Francis, like his predecessors, would probably confirm all Vatican officials in their jobs for the time being, and make changes at a later date.

                                     ___________________   |   _________________

Argentina's Bergoglio elected Pope

 

Michael Hirst BBC News, Rome

 http://www.bloomberg.com/video/argentina-s-cardinal-bergoglio-elected-pope-francis-Z1j8fhyuRdajbQLOotVh8g.html

Official ranslation of speech
 http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/official-text-pope-francis-1st-speech-world-18724217

  

Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, elected as the Catholic Church's new Pope, Francis, has greeted crowds in St Peter's Square in Rome. Appearing on a balcony over the square, he asked the faithful to pray for him. Cheers erupted as he gave a blessing.

The 76-year-old from Buenos Aires is the first Latin American and the first Jesuit to be pontiff. An hour earlier, white smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney announced the new Pope's election. He will be installed officially in an inauguration Mass on Tuesday 19 March, the Vatican said. Pope Francis replaces Benedict XVI, who resigned last month at the age of 85, saying he was not strong enough to lead the Church.

He has telephoned Benedict and is planning to meet him, a Vatican spokesman said. Pope Francis takes the helm at a difficult time for the Catholic Church, facing an array of challenges which include the role of women, interfaith tensions and dwindling congregations in some parts of the world.

There was elation on a rain-strewn St Peter's Square as the white smoke billowed from the rusty chimney. Brollies bounced and flags swayed as the basilica bells rang out. The crowd swelled as Rome converged on the square, priests and pilgrims running to catch a glimpse of their new leader.

"Viva il papa!" they chanted, as they waited to learn his name. Once the crowd had been told, the chants quickly turned to: "Fran-ces-co! Fran-ces-co!" And then, to trumpet fanfare, the balcony curtains parted and the new Pope appeared above them, to bless them - but only after he had asked them to pray with him, and for him. The people were touched, and roared their approval.

The BBC's James Robbins, in St Peter's Square, says that at first the crowd was unsure who this man was, but they seemed to warm to his humour. He began his address to the crowds by offering a prayer for his predecessor. In a light-hearted moment, he said his fellow cardinals had gone to the "ends of the Earth" to find a bishop of Rome. He went on to ask the crowd to "pray to God so that he can bless me", before calling on the world to set off on a path of love and fraternity. 'Huge gift'
 
"Habemus Papam Franciscum," was the first tweet by the papal account @pontifex since Benedict stood down last month. The election was met with thunderous applause at the cathedral in Buenos Aires, Pope Francis' home city.

Throughout Latin America - home to 40% of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics - people reacted with delight and surprise. "It's a huge gift for all of Latin America. We waited 20 centuries. It was worth the wait," said Jose Antonio Cruz, a Franciscan friar in the Puerto Rican capital San Juan, quoted by the Associated Press.
"Everyone from Canada down to Patagonia is going to feel blessed. This is an event."

US President Barack Obama sent "warm wishes" on behalf of the American people to the newly elected pontiff, hailing the Argentine as "the first pope from the Americas."

Pope Francis

• Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 17 December 1936 (age 76) in Buenos Aires, of Italian descent
• Ordained as a Jesuit in 1969
• Studied in Argentina and Germany
• Became Cardinal of Buenos Aires in 1998
• Seen as orthodox on sexual matters but strong on social justice

Argentina's President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner wished him a "fruitful pastoral mission". She is expected to attend the Pope's inauguration Mass on Tuesday, as is US Vice President Joe Biden, himself a Catholic. 

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said it was a "momentous day" for Catholics, while Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, leader of the world's Anglicans, offered him "every blessing". "I look forward to meeting Pope Francis, and to walking and working together to build on the consistent legacy of our predecessors," he said in a statement.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he looked forward to cooperation under Pope Francis's "wise leadership. Correspondents say Cardinal Bergoglio was a surprise choice and not among a small group of frontrunners before the election. Many observers were also expecting a younger pope to be elected. He is regarded as a doctrinal conservative but seen as a potential force for reform of the Vatican bureaucracy, which may have won the support of reforming cardinals. However, he is known more than anything for his humility. He has spent almost his entire career in Argentina and often travels to work by bus.

 

 Argentines reacted with joy at the election

 

The BBC's Marcia Carmo in Buenos Aires says Cardinal Bergoglio's sermons always had an impact in Argentina: he often stressed social inclusion and indirectly criticised governments that did not pay attention to those on the margins of society.

The name he has taken is reminiscent of St Francis of Assisi, the 13th Century Italian reformer and patron saint of animals, who lived in poverty. The saint was said to have been summoned by God to repair a Church in ruins. Cardinal Bergoglio, whose family roots are Italian, is generally thought to have come second in the last conclave in 2005, which elected Benedict XVI as Pope. The 115 cardinals involved in the 2013 election were in isolation since Tuesday afternoon, and held four inconclusive votes.

At least 77 of them, or two-thirds, would have had to vote for a single candidate for him to be elected Pope.
Before the conclave began, there appeared to be no clear choice to replace Benedict.

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21777494

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21777747