In 2013, this is what it looks like when the Pope is about to pass by in front of crowds. Smartphones and cameras everywhere.

It’s Popeweek here in Rio de Janeiro, and that has absolutely dominated news coverage. Since my main employer, the LA Times, is a newspaper in a Catholic-heavy city in a very religious country, we’ve done a lot. Brazil watchers should also check out Folha’s excellent English-language coverage,  but what follows below is a summary of what’s happened so far as I report for LAT.

Brazil is “the world’s largest Catholic country,” but it is less Catholic than ever, and it’s worth asking how Catholic people here really are compared to the rest of Latin America, and how often self-professed believers agree with the Church on moral doctrine.

In Brazil, it’s the Evangelicals that have strong opinions on religion, and whom the secular-liberal protesters view as a threat. Just as often as not, being “Catholic” here is a default option for anyone who hasn’t thought much about religion. Only 16% of Brazilians report going to Catholic Mass once a week – and the word “report” in there implies it could very well be less.

The faithful are hopeful Francis will inspire the flock to come back to the Roman Church. He is certainly popular, largely because of a perception he goes out of his way to live simply and get closer to ‘the people.’

He was received like a pop star on Monday, with crowds laughing, and cheering, and singing, and snapping, and snapping, and snapping (see photo above). I have never seen so many photos taken at the same time in my life. One amazing scene unfolded as a group of nuns mobbed his moving car with open windows…to take pictures of him on their camera phones. But I didn’t see anyone crying or praying.

Tomorrow, he heads into a favela which was pacified last year. That will be symbolic for both the Church and for protest-ridden Brazil.

OK, I think I got all the links in there. For the full list so far, go here. And for those that really care, you can follow me on twitter.

Brazil ‘lost’ to Argentina at the Conclave in Rome last week. But São Paulo Cardinal Odilo Scherer will remain a towering figure for the world’s largest congregation.

By Dom Phillips

There was surprise and disappointment here when the white smoke pouring from a Vatican chimney meant a new pope had been chosen – and he wasn’t Brazilian. Cardinal Odilo Scherer, the Archbishop of São Paulo, had been widely tipped as a favourite and was the preferred candidate amongst Brazil’s 123 million Catholics, the largest congregation in the world.

But the cardinals voting in the secretive and archaic ceremony in Rome took everyone by surprise, and chose Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope. Pope Francis, as he became, is the first South American papal leader. And to the chagrin of many Brazilians, he is Argentinean.

Brazil and Argentina enjoy a fierce, if friendly rivalry, not just in soccer, but in business and economics as well. Jokes focused on this were soon being kicked around Brazil’s garrulous social networks.

Scherer, however, insisted in an interview with Porto Alegre newspaper Zero Hora that he did not even know he was one of the favourites because he did not read the newspapers, and welcomed the new Church leader. On March 14 he put out a video interview on the Archbishop website welcoming the choice of the new pope.

“We are certain that Pope Francis will be a blessing for the Church in the whole world,” he said, noting with approval that Pope Francis is also from Latin America.

What then of the Man Who Was Nearly Pope? The signs are that Cardinal Scherer will continue to be one of the most important church leaders in Brazil. The 63-year-old is lauded here for his adept use of social networks like Twitter – where he has 30,000 followers – and Facebook. But he uses modern communication methods to transmit traditional doctrine: a diplomatic reaffirmation of the Roman Catholic status quo. Plus the odd, light-hearted joke.

“It’s okay that the new pope is Argentinean,” Rebelo said. “But everybody knows that God is Brazilian, and that the World Cup will be ours, for sure.”

Well, they didn’t give it to the Brazilian. But in the moments after Wednesday’s announcements there were three things that seemed radical about the choice of Cardinal Bergoglio. Not radical in the context of wider society in 2013, of course, but radical within the context of the papacy and its recent history.

1. Most obviously – he is from Latin America, not Europe. Even though he is really just an Italian once-removed, this is a very powerful message, and will give the Church someone who knows how to communicate with the Global South. Papers here in São Paulo called him “The pope of the poor.”

2. His name. Francis recalls one of the wildest, most radical, and widely cherished saints in the history of Western Civilization, Francis of Assisi. To get a picture of just how revolutionary (and wacky – in the good way) this guy was, check out this excellent New Yorker profile.

3. His lifestyle. He lives modestly, loves to take the bus (and perhaps, loves for people to see him taking the bus), is at home in the slums of Argentina, and has kissed the feet of AIDS patients. This is the kind of thing that people deeply respect in a religious leader.

Of course, he is the Pope. So he is staunchly against gay marriage and even the distribution of contraceptives, and it’s clear gay rights groups will likely consider him an enemy. And even within the Church he is from the conservative wing – but that was always going to be the case, considering the makeup of the cardinals appointed by the last two popes.

But despite the severe limitations, Francis seemed like as refreshing a choice as was possible.

But then came the rumblings about his relation to Argentina’s murderous dictatorship, which led the Vatican to explicitly deny claims today that he may have passively or actively allowed the government to arrest and torture two Jesuit priests who were working with the poor.

The details of what happened are far from clear, and will undoubtedly be the subject of much press interrogation in the coming months. But we may hazard that if there were two extremes of behavior under the military junta – on the one hand, dedicated and open opposition to government repression, or on the other, willing and active support – it seems Bergoglio can be accused of neither.

Where exactly he was in the middle will likely come out later, hopefully, but this much information has been enough to make the left oppose him.

“What I think is clear is that the church never came out and publicly denounced the disappearances and never aligned itself with the progressive forces, as it did in Chile and El Salvador,” said Iain Guest, founder and executive director of the Advocacy Project, a Washington-based nonprofit, and the author of “Behind the Disappearances: Argentina’s Dirty War Against Human Rights and the United Nations.” The church, he said, “was certainly not heroic in Argentina.” [LA Times]

But of course, the left was already already going to oppose him, as were groups in favor of gay marriage and abortion rights. The Pope story is really about his effect on the millions of faithful. And even though there are less than ever, there are still lots, especially here in Latin America. So despite the discussion about the crimes of the Argentine government – and it’s a discussion I’m very glad we’re having – I think the vast majority of the believers, here in Brazil and around the region, are giving him the benefit of the doubt.

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At the Penha chapter of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, on the poor outskirts of São Paulo:

“Let me tell you a story,” the white-clad pastor said. “One of our faithful was unemployed, and was about to receive his very last unemployment payment before going completely broke. Do you think he was not going to pay his dizimo[the 10% of their monthly income members are required to give the Church]? He paid it, out of his last check, and two hours later, he got a call with a job offer. If he hadn’t given that payment, he never would have got that call. He would have paid for his disobedience.”

The above is a quote that was cut from the LA Times story, Brazil’s evangelical churches rewrite the rules of politics. It should have been cut, since it was about the political influences of the churches, not how they work internally. But if you’re interested in how these guys got so rich, the above is a good example. Followers are told quite often that there will be material benefits to giving money. You aren’t just helping the cause, you are likely going to be given a lot of money or success, by God, in return. The religion these times were always going to call for?

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