Thank God that's over

Almost everything else is chosen for him, most importantly the pile of papers and reports that sit on his desk, many of them entailing work no one would really like to do, and which he cannot delegate.

The life of a Pope is an ironic slavery, and for that reason he is named the servant of the servants of God.

There are many firsts for this Pope – the first Latin American, the first to use Francis, the first Jesuit. The first non-European in 1200 years.

But the real test is this – will it be a first for the chattering classes – those who call themselves the 'experts', to finally bury the hatchet and stand alongside the rest of the world and marvel at another humble man filling such important shoes, and wish him well.