BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – At the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Caacupé, in Barracks, a Buenos Aires neighborhood, people have been gathering daily to share their jubilation over the election of their former parish priest as Pope Francis.

"We are still flying, we have not woken up," said Rita Espinola. "We thought it would be the Brazilian, then the Italian. And then they said ‘Bergoglio’ and cheers overflowed our neighborhood.”

The church is the heart of this low-income community of some 35,000, many of them maids and construction workers.

"This poor, humble place burst with joy when we heard the news," said Father Facundo Berretta, the new leader of the parish who was ordained by the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 2007.

Parishioners say they are grateful Bergoglio continued to visit them, even as he climbed through the ranks of the Catholic Church, reaching the position of archbishop and cardinal in 2001. They describe seeing Bergoglio in his robes getting off the bus a few blocks from the church to join them in religious processions.   

But not all Argentines are such fans. Some critics allege that Bergoglio failed to protect priests and challenge the military dictatorship during Argentina’s so-called “dirty war” from 1976 to 1983.

The Vatican strongly denied the accusations that Francis was silent during human rights abuses by the former dictatorship on Friday. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told reporters the accusations “must be clearly and firmly denied.”

Erika Angulo/ NBC News

Rosa Nair Amuedo de Maddalena, a member of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, speaks with reporters in front of Buenos Aires National Cathedral on Thursday. Her daughter was kidnapped during Argentina's so-called 'Dirty War' in 1976.

Dark chapter
Still, the elevation of Bergoglio to pope did not stop others from alleging he did not do enough to protect those persecuted by the dictatorship during Argentina’s darkest days.

On Thursday “Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo" marched around the square in front of the National Cathedral, as they do every Thursday afternoon, demanding justice for their children who disappeared during Argentina’s military dictatorship.

The mothers, who formed their group in 1977, have long demanded that they be reunited with their missing children. Military leaders have admitted that more than 9,000 are unaccounted for; but the mothers say the number is closer to 30,000.  

One leader of the group, Ines Vazquez, said Francis is now blessing the world, but he didn't offer blessings for those who were hurt during the time of the dictatorship. She questioned whether the pope will do something to help the mothers' cause in the future.

Bergoglio was in charge of a Jesuit congregation in 1976 when two priests from the group where abducted by agents of the dictatorship, according to journalist Horacio Verbistky. It was later discovered that the priests, Francisco Jalics and Orlando Yorio, had been tortured.   

While being questioned by investigators in November 2010, Bergoglio testified that as the priests' superior he had alerted them that they were in danger of falling victim to what he called the "military paranoia" if they continued working in a particular slum. After their abductions, he met with dictator Jorge Videla and with military commanders to advocate for the priests' freedom, he told investigators.  

The priests survived, but critics say Bergoglio should have publicly defended them and criticized the regime. 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel wrote in an op-ed published Friday in El Clarin newspaper: "I do not believe Jorge Bergoglio was an accomplice of the dictatorship, but he lacked courage to accompany our fight for human rights during the most difficult times." 

‘How far could he have gone to protect people?
Many well-known Argentinians have come out to defend Bergoglio. Human rights advocate Graciela Fernandez Meijide, who describes herself as an atheist, said speculating about Bergoglio playing a role in the abuses is unfair. 

"How far could he have gone to protect people?" she asked journalists, describing how her own son was abducted from her house during the dictatorship and she was unable to save him. She said human rights investigators never found proof that Bergoglio was involved.

She added that she believes Argentine President Cristina Fernandez Kirchner is fomenting the criticism of Bergoglio.

Relations between the president and the former cardinal could be described as tense. During sermons he often accused the administration of not helping the poor enough and of distorting inflation numbers. But relations became more heated when the cardinal led the fight against the president's attempts to legalize gay marriage in 2010. Bergoglio described it as the devil's work.

He lost, and gay marriage is now legal in Argentina.  

However, the president did wish Bergoglio well upon finding out he would be the new pope. 

‘A treasure’
Back at Bergoglio’s old church, parishioners were happy to swap stories about their old priest who last visited on Dec. 8, when he administered the sacrament of confirmation to dozens of neighbors.  

Raul Valdivieso came to show friends a photo of himself and his wife with Bergoglio. He said the priest baptized most of his family members. "We even ate 'choripan' together,” said Valdivieso, referring to the traditional Argentinian meal of sausage on Italian bread. He also liked drinking "mate," a traditional tea made with herbs, others said.

"The church today needs a pope with that kind of humility,” said Father Berretta, the parish leader. He added that he is very proud that the church has a Hispanic pope.  "For us he is a treasure."  

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Although Pope Francis is a Jesuit, he chose his papal name not in honor of St. Francis Xavier, a co-founder of the Society of Jesus, but rather in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. It's a significant choice.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, a member of the 115-member conclave that elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the 266th pope, told NBC News that the new pope explained his choice of name at the gathering Wednesday.

Vatican watchers said the election of Bergoglio was already a powerful signal of a renewed commitment by the Catholic Church to traditional Catholic theology. And in choosing to highlight Francis of Assisi, Bergoglio was explicitly honoring "a saint that transcends the Catholic Church and is loved by all people, a saint who reached out for simplicity, ... poverty and care for the poor," the Rev. Thomas Rosica, a spokesman for the Vatican, said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC).

Francis (who was born in 1181 or 1182 and died in 1226) founded the Franciscan Order in his hometown, Assisi, in what is now the Italian region of Umbria.

Although he was never even ordained as a priest, Francis is considered one of the church's holiest figures and was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in 1228, only two years after his death, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, which reflects the Vatican's official view of history. 

Slideshow: Pope Francis: His life before the papacy

Reuters

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected to lead the Roman Catholic Church following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. 

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Among other things, he's credited by the church with creating the first Nativity scene to celebrate Christmas in 1223.

Francis wasn't always so saintly. Born to wealth, he lived a playboy life that included blowing off his studies, according to a biography penned by Thomas of Celano, a friar who was a contemporary of Francis' and one of his first followers.

But in 1205 — as he was on his way to fight one of Assisi's many battles with its rival city of Perugia — Francis had what Thomas and other biographers describe as a vision in which he was told to return home. He did, taking up a life of prayer and solitude. On a subsequent pilgrimage to Rome, he reportedly gave all his money to the city's poor having exchanged his clothes with those of a beggar.

Shortly thereafter, Francis had another vision as he was praying in a rundown chapel in Assisi, in which Jesus commanded him, "Go, Francis, and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin."

Taking the command literally, according to Thomas' and other histories, Francis sold his home and his possessions to raise the money to rebuild the city's chapels. He became a street preacher, and by 1209, he and about 11 followers were making the rounds of Umbria's towns as itinerant preachers when Francis traveled to Rome to seek Pope Innocent III's blessing to establish a religious order. Final approval came the following year.

(The official history and admiring biographies of the time tell an entertaining tale of red tape and bureaucratic delays that kept Francis hanging around outside the Vatican for several days trying to get inside to see the pope.)

The order grew rapidly, and within a few years it had expanded into two others: one for women, today known as the Poor Clares, and another for pious laymen and women who choose to live a worldly life.

Followers were drawn by Francis' absolute devotion to living his life in close imitation of Jesus'. The burgeoning order celebrated poverty, so much so that in his "Testament," written shortly before he died, Francis said absolute poverty was his order's defining rule.

In a famous dictum history attributes to him, Francis argued: "You cannot starve a fasting man, you cannot steal from someone who has no money, you cannot ruin someone who hates prestige."

It is that philosophy that Pope Francis adheres to, even though he is not himself a member of the order, said Rosica, the Vatican spokesman.

"Cardinal Bergoglio has spent his life opening his arms to the poor, the destitute," he told the CBC. "Argentina is a beautiful country, but there are great pockets of poverty and injustice, and he was right there in the middle of all of this."

Church scholars predicted that the new pope would bring a sharp focus on ministering to the poor in the manner of St. Francis.

"He has a reputation for simplicity and for being utterly concerned about the poor," the Rev. John Padberg, director of the Institute of Jesuit Sources at Saint Louis University, told NBC station KSDK of St. Louis. "In all of the upheavals in Argentina in previous years, no matter what had happened, that was one of his main concerns."

Juan Martinez, an associate professor of Hispanic studies and pastoral leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., said that while Pope Francis might be considered theologically conservative, he'll be "conservative with a human face."

"The reality of living amongst the poor and those who suffered in the majority world gives him a very different perspective from the previous pope," Martinez told NBC 4 of Los Angeles. "It is an experience that is more common among the majority of Catholics."

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Slideshow: Pope Francis: His life before the papacy

Marcos Brindicci / Reuters

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is both the first Latin American pope and the first Jesuit pope.

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Pope Francis is unique not just for being the first Latin American pope. He's also the first Jesuit pope, possibly signaling a renewed emphasis on traditional Catholic theology by the church.

The Society of Jesus, as the Jesuits are formally known, observes a vow of poverty, and as archbishop of Buenos Aires, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was known for his accessibility and simplicity, said Michael Sheeran, president-elect of the American Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.

"Pope Francis took the bus to work every day," Sheeran said in a live online discussion of Bergoglio's election. "He sold the cardinal's residence and lived in a small apartment where he cooked for himself."

But that simplicity hides a steely determination to advance Jesuit principles, especially on the importance of traditional Catholic teachings and protection of the poor and the oppressed, Sheeran said. 

That determination emerged during Bergoglio's service as the top Jesuit leader of Argentina beginning in 1973, Sheeran said, noting, "He was a tough guy who made sure his men toed the mark."

"I think you'll find a man who is conservative theologically but very strong on matters of social justice," Sheeran said.

George Weigel, a senior fellow at the nonprofit Ethics and Public Policy Center who is a Vatican analyst for NBC News, agreed that the choice of Bergoglio "speaks to the church's commitment to the poor of the world and compassion in a world that often needs a lot of healing."

At the same time, "this is a John Paul II guy," Weigel said, referring to Pope John Paul II, who elevated Bergoglio to archbishop in 1998 and cardinal in 2001. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, "he tried to call that community back to orthodoxy," Weigel said.

The new pope has been a vocal opponent of abortion and especially of same-sex marriage, saying in 2010 that its role was to "seriously injure the family." He said the practice deprived children of "the human growth that God wanted them given by a father and a mother."

That position drew a rebuke from Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, who called Bergoglio a relic of "medieval times and the Inquisition."

Ultimate redemption for Jesuits
The Society of Jesus is the largest religious order of men in the Catholic Church, according to church statistics, and the largest single order of Catholic priests. But there has never before been a Jesuit pope, reflecting both the order's own reluctance to get deeply involved in church politics and its history as a polarizing force within Catholicism.

"I'm amazed (Francis) was selected," Sheeran said, because "the Jesuits steer clear of getting high-ranking jobs like this."

The society was founded in Rome in 1540 by St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier as a movement devoted to living in the imitation of Jesus. 

From the beginning, the Jesuits have been aggressively evangelistic; they were the shock troops in the church's resistance to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century and among the first missionaries to set up shop in such far-flung locales as India, Asia, and Central and South America, the Catholic Encyclopedia records.

That activism earned the society a reputation for political scheming by the 1760s, leading to its official suppression by Pope Clement XIV in 1773. Expulsion of the order quickly followed across much of the Catholic world, from France and Portugal to as far away as the Philippines.

"It thereby contributed to the polarization and politicization of the European public sphere in the age of enlightenment," Christine Vogel, a historian at the University of Rostock in Germany, wrote in a 2010 examination of the suppression.

The order remained in the wilderness for 41 years before Pope Pius VII restored its recognition after the Napoleonic Wars wound down in 1814.

In the modern era, the Jesuits have focused on social justice and education, having founded scores of prominent colleges  around the world, including 28 in the U.S., among them Georgetown in Washington, Boston College, Fordham in New York, Holy Cross in Massachusetts, Marquette in Milwaukee and Loyola in New Orleans. (An earlier version of this story inaccurately located Marquette University.)

That's in keeping with Pope Francis' own background — like his predecessor, Benedict XVI, Bergoglio is an academic as well as a priest.

Before he became a bishop in 1992, Bergoglio earned a doctorate in theology in Freiburg, Germany. He returned to Argentina and was a theology instructor at and later rector of the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel in Buenos Aires.

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