Is the Pope Latino?

First let's ask, "Does it matter if he's Latino or not?" Yes it does matter because with the estimated 45 million Latino Catholics living in the U.S., you're going to need a reason to make him Latino. There are various news outlets, like the Huffington Post's Latino Voices, calling him Latino in the headline.

BeingLatino raised the question on Facebook and of course there are mixed reactions and even people attempting to identify what is a Latino. One person comments, "Argentinians don't claim Latino. They claim European," while another writes, "He's a Latino without a doubt. He was born in Argentina, which is in South America and where Spanish is the official language." So what is the definition of a Latino? Although a dictionary might say one thing, as a people we could easily say something else. 

An article in BeingLatino states, "The election of a Latin American is being celebrated by the 480 million Catholics living in Latin America, not to mention the estimated 45 million Latino Catholics in the United States. The Argentine-born son of Italian immigrants, Papa Francisco is already hailed as a 'Pope for the People,' like some ecclesiastical Obama." What should matter is that this new Pope is indeed the first from South America and he speaks Spanish. Should it matter if he's considered Latino?  Maybe this is just a ploy in the church seeking more Catholics which of course leads to more $$. Egh.