Thank God that's over

He has been a champion of the poor in Argentina – a passionate man for social justice, in a country that has dealt with massive social and economic issues in recent times. He rightly thought it unbecoming of the highest cleric in the country to enjoy the wealth of his position while so many others were suffering. In 2001 he visited a group of AIDS victims and washed and kissed their feet. In 2008 he did the same to a group of recovering drug addicts.

Even regarding the poor in the Church, he does not discriminate. He condemned the refusal to baptise a child born out of wedlock as "hypocritical clericalism" and said:

"Jesus did not preach his own politics: he accompanied others. The conversions he inspired took place precisely because of his willingness to accompany, which makes us all brothers and children and not members of an NGO or proselytes of some multinational company."

He has served on five different Congregations in the Church – Catholics who have been drawn to the beauty of the liturgy under Benedict's focus on sacramental life will be glad to hear that he has worked on the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. In particular he has lamented the loss of respect for the sacraments and said clearly that Catholics in public life who support euthanasia and abortion should not participate in the Eucharist (Holy Communion) as they are at odds with the essential teachings of the Church, and caving in to the "Culture of Death".

He has served on the Pontifical Council for the Family and his outspoken statements on same-sex marriage are based on the disrespect and neglect of children that it entails and the breaking down of the family as the lynchpin of society.

He has written extensively and his 2007 book El verdadero poder es el servicio – True Power is Service, says a lot about his ideas on his own new-found power and how people who hold office and responsibility need to seek to serve the people they represent. Last month he said:

"The cardinalate is a service, it is not an award to be bragged about. Vanity, showing off, is an attitude that reduces spirituality to a worldly thing."

There's good newsfor the non-Catholic world as well. In the age of technology and transparency it seems he is keen to turn the Church inside-out. Benedict's seeking to re-Christianise Europe and the world with the 'New Evangelization' that John Paul II heralded may get some fresh new ideas with this Pope:

"We need to avoid the spiritual sickness of a Church that is wrapped up in its own world: when a Church becomes like this, it grows sick... And if I had to choose between a wounded Church that goes out onto the streets and a sick withdrawn Church, I would definitely choose the first one."

And finally he has some clear ideas about how to deal with the sex abuse crisis that rightly gets so much attention in the media. He is a man who is in love with his Church but not afraid to call a spade a spade. Just as Benedict defrocked and spoke harshly to clerics found guilty of those crimes, Francis looks set to continue the same way – which will protect the young and vulnerable children of today and the future, and also protect the body of the Church that those priests have also done so much harm to:

"It is an invitation to look at the Church, holy and sinful as it is, to look at certain shortcomings and sins, without losing sight of the holiness of so many men and women who work in the Church today."

The look on the new Pope's face told a story about the million things rushing through his mind. As he looked out on St Peter's he knew he could never walk across those cobblestones on his own again. His personal choices pretty much began and finished with the choosing of his name and shield.