PBS: Religion and Ethics Newsweekly

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The new leader of the Anglican Communion says true reconciliation requires "putting your most valued and passionate beliefs out for them to be examined, attacked, and then finding a way to love the person with whom you are dealing."

“St. Francis considers himself to be a brother to everyone,” say Father Larry Dunham of the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America. “He had his own special vision.”

“The ancient words take on the power they were supposed to take on all along,” says Rabbi Jamie Korngold, who leads a Passover seder in the Utah desert. “We’re trying to take this spiritually rich experience and ignite our Judaism.”

"When we walk through the desert, we really get that idea of freedom, of being out in the wilderness and all the spiritual moments that are possible in the wilderness."

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"If he stresses the social justice teachings of the church, the very counter-cultural message of simplicity and poverty, that could really change things without technically changing any teachings," says David Gibson, national reporter for Religion News Service.

"He may be the very guy to come in and reform a lot of the problems that are going on in the Vatican curia right now. And that may be one thing that the cardinals saw that led to his election."

By taking the name of one of the most revered figures in all Christianity, Pope Francis may be signalling that his papacy will prioritize caring for the "the least of these."