UPDATE: No, I’m wrong! The Pope doesn’t have a master’s in chemistry! He has a titulo, a certificate, and it’s something like a community college degree. He also worked as a chemist before entering the seminary.
Nobody’s really mentioning that Pope Francis is a chemical guy (the info says Técnico Quimico – is that a “chemical technician” or some kind of engineer?) from his degree back in the 1950’s (I think a master’s from some kind of science/industry tech college, probably English-style where you get the master’s right after your B.A.) before entering the seminary at age 21, and taught chemistry as well as literature and other soft subjects. A Jesuit STEM guy, in fact. He’s probably the first STEM pope since the great nerd pope of the Middle Ages, Pope Sylvester II.*
I guess that might mess with the narrative about how the Catholic Church is somehow anti-science. (The Curt Jester was all over this yesterday.)
But of course, you don’t usually see Dawkins’ crowd washing and kissing the feet of sick people, either.
Here’s a nice smile picture. There’s also a pic of Bergoglio drinking yerba mate in a bad neighborhood. (I know, it looks like an oilcan, but I swear it’s a yerba mate bombillo.)
The Piedmont is the area of Italy where the Pope’s parents are from.
* Probably the first lit teacher in a while, too, but I don’t think the academic world will love him better for it.
UPDATE: Actually, Pope John XXII (that’s the one in the 1300’s) was an alchemy researcher before he became Pope. He’s best known today as an anti-chemistry pope, because he forbade alchemists to run scams or to counterfeit coins with his law Spondent pariter. Here’s my post about it.
Aliens in This World 
Thanks for the link.
I’m finding it more interesting that they’ve elected the first Jesuit to the papacy–that was something I hadn’t expected. Stylistically, Francis reminds me quite a bit of John Paul I; he seems to have the same natural pastoral style.
Nobody ever expects the Jesuits! There’s tons of jokes already: “A bishop, a chemist, and a Jesuit walk into a bar….”
That is certainly an authentic bombilla, although of the artsier kind (as is mine). The neighbourhood may not be a down-market one, as much of Buenos Aires, and shops’ metal shutters, is well-graffitied. I would also note that its graffiti and wall-paintings are generally of a very high quality.