Argentina's Cardinal Became Pope Francis

Pope Francis is the first Pope from Argentina and Latin America. The world welcomed the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the Pope Francis. A great honor of the Argentine Society of having an installed  Pope from their country.

Let's learn the significance of the new Pope's name "Francis" instead of using the tradition of his predecessors;

• he wants to lead the church into a new chapter, or at least embrace a new tone. In a notable gesture, Francis asked the multitudes assembled in St. Peter's Square to bless him.
• In Catholic tradition, St. Francis of Assisi had a mystical vision of Jesus Christ, who told him to rebuild his church. 
• In light of the scandals that have tarnished the Church, from its financial troubles to widespread allegations and cover-up of sex abuse, the name may carry special significance
• Francis is also known for humility and a simple lifestyle. The Italian patron saint renounced his wealth and founded the Franciscan order of friars in 1290.

Pope Francis is the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Wishing a continuous great health of the Holy Father.

To learn more information about Pope Francis, the following are additional backgrounder that was put together from various sources (source acknowledgement: Time Newsfeed)

• Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Dec. 17, 1936.

• He has four brothers and sisters. His father was an Italian immigrant and railway worker, and his mother was a housewife.

• Prior to becoming Supreme Pontiff, he had been Archbishop of Buenos Aires since 1998, and a cardinal since 2001.

• Before becoming Archbishop, he taught literature, philosophy, theology, and psychology.

• He also has a philosophy degree from the Catholic University of Buenos Aires and a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires.

• In 1958, at the age of 21, he decided to enter the Society of Jesus, and started studying to become a Jesuit priest.

• As the Archbishop of Buenos Aires he turned down the opportunity to live in the palatial Archibishop’s residence, opting for a spartan apartment instead.

• He cooks his own meals.

• He takes the bus.

• He only has one lung. His second got infected when he was a teenager, and it had to be removed.

• An email chain once alleged he “never smiled.”

• After Argentina legalized gay marriage in July 2010, Bergoglio described the new law as “a scheme to destroy God’s plan” and “a real and dire anthropological throwback.”  When the legislation was still being debated, he called it “a move by the father of lies to confuse and deceive the children of God.” Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner said Bergoglio’s comments were “really reminiscent of the times of the Inquisition.”

• Bergoglio also called gay adoption “discrimination against children,” charging that the practice was “depriving [children] of the human growth that God wanted them given by a father and a mother.”

• Shortly before the 2005 Conclave that ultimately elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI, a human rights lawyer filed a criminal complaint against Bergoglio, accusing him of having been complicit in the 1976 kidnappings of two priests, Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics, by Argentina’s military dictatorship. Bergoglio, who had been superior of the Society of Jesus of Argentina at the time, completely denied the claim.

Perspectives:
The newly installed Pope of the Catholic Church have demonstrated continuously in the past about his viewpoints against realities of today's world, where GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender) community are not the same as he views them. The entire world continue to evolve in recognizing that same sex are equally humane with privileges of equal treatment like their counterparts as heterosexuals.

It will be a new window to learn how will he change the current standing of the Catholic Church in regards to  scandalous events that took place during his time as Archbishop. That remains to be seen .. and it's only been four days since he got elected as a Pope.

As an organization, we support our GLBT community for Equality and Justice.

Acknowledgement: Photo David Mcnew/Getty Images

Sharing & Experiencing Culture Through English Conversations - Avoid Embarrasments

We enjoyed the engaging conversations during today's session on Cultural Implications and Context within Conversational English. The participants participated actively. Our new friends from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam (Sunny), who teaches English as a Foreign Language to university students and from Mendoza, Argentina (Emanuel) who likes to be a future English professor. Hosted by our American Coach, Jaiyetee, whose expertise of Coaching in the areas of Communications, Business, Linguistics and Leadership.

Our topics evolved from various aspects of conversations, its contextual meanings and cultural implications such as learning the 'Cultural Iceberg' where there are many information that we do not know and aware of when communicating with someone whom we just met, or we work with or we have been introduced. Even when we have worked together for a while, but we did not explore the cultural backgrounds of implicit culture (the things underneath of the physical view). Often times, we are experiencing more the external appearance of the culture (what we are actually seeing). Imagine the view below, looking the physical view or its panorama,but you  are not sure how deep is the water and what exists under the surface of the water. That is how the implicit culture looks like - you cannot know it until you explore and discover more through a personal immersion. In the photo, you need to dive into the water and see what you can immerse yourself to understand what is in there.

We shared our ideas, views, perspectives and talked about;

1. Perceptions versus realities

2. Verbal communications and its implications and correct usage

3. Non-verbal communications and their unknown meanings

4. Meaning of words and phrases in different countries

5. Cultural meanings of greeting someone at a particular country in context

6. Giving gifts to a personal friend, business partner, family friends and acquaintances

7. Cultural Immersion and Experiences

In order to experience the real scenario and learn the cultural contexts of phrases, words, expressions, actions and avoid embarrassments during conversations in English, we need to learn what these mean in other cultures. Cultural Meanings and their relevance to the speaker / recipient of the information is important. We make sure that what we say will not be  offensive. Must demonstrate cultural competence, be articulate, and confident in an engaging conversation to be achieve great experience. 

When interested to participate in any future English Conversations via Skype please send your interest via email: info@ideasnconversations with your skype ID, and we will include you in the future events. You can invite your friends to participate with you to learn together. If you have specific topic that you would like to learn more, just email us with your suggested topic and we will consider for future topic agenda. 

Thank you to all our participants. Until the next session.