Now we know the way to San Jos?

22.05.16: IT WAS the carnival to end all carnivals yesterday as Latin America's Catholics took to the streets to celebrate the election of the first Hispanic Pope.

So great was the rejoicing for Mexican-born Pope Joseph, that it was easy to forget that 60% of Latin Americans now belong to evangelist churches. The trend was already firm in Central America when Pope Ignatius took over from Pius XIII in 2004. But the former's unbending conservative stance on women, contraception and Vatican finances, and his venomous opposition to liberation theology, led to a global exodus from the church. It is hoped that Brother Jos?, as he is known in Mexico City, will reverse this trend.

Yet Jos? is a high-risk choice. Deeply involved in efforts to politicise poor Mexicans, he has been jailed four times for attacking the government, threatened with excommunication and accused of supporting paramilitary groups. MF