there were some financial disclosures, and there were rumors about a gay lobby within the church, and things that were really weighing very heavily on benedict s shoulders. after following pope benedict s struggle from 7,000 miles away, cardinal bergoglio would get a chance to get up and close and personal in a latin american bishop s conference. four years after the election of pope benedict and bergoglio, who came in second, meet again. pope benedict leads the conference. cardinal bergoglio serves as scribe. they asked him to be the one to put the final report together. and you always know the person whose designated to put the final report in any meeting gets to put his views forward. in summarizing the conference, bergoglio stresses how latin american bishops must put poor people first. it s seen as an endorsement of