Pope Francis and Identity: Some Initial Thoughts

Readers of The Mexican Intellectual know that one theme we regularly address is ethnicity and ethnic identity.  I have written before, for example, about the limitations of a “Latino” ethnic construction for United States-born populations of Central American, South American, or Caribbean descent; arguing essentially that it obviates the national and cultural heritages of entire groups of people.  Thus, it should come as little surprise that I find the characterization of the recently-elected Pope Francis as Latino - as some in the press, among the faithful, or both have done - as misguided.  Not only does this characterization test the limits of a Latino ethnic construction, but it also is patently incorrect given the Pontiff's national origin, and it continues the tradition of American cultural hegemony in the region.

Photo credit: Paul Haring, Catholic News Service.
Available at http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1301150.htm

To be clear, “Latino” is a label of ethnic identity; socially constructed by and for populations from Central America, South America, or the Caribbean (regions loosely referred to as Latin America) who reside in the U.S.  Thus, in the U.S. context, people of Mexican, Guatemalan, Puerto Rican, or other national descents of these regions living in the U.S. identify as or are categorized by others as “Latino.”

Pope Francis, née Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is the son of an Italian immigrant to Argentina, and was born in the capital city, Buenos Aires, in December 1936.  As such, we can say we have an Argentinean Pope, or a South American Pope, or even a Latin American Pope, but we cannot say we have a Latino Pope.  Further, U.S. Latinos may have a sense of pride that a son of Latin America is the new Pontiff, but they cannot claim him as one of their own - as a Latino.  To project their U.S. constructed ethnic identity on a native Argentinean is naive at best, and imperialistic at worst.