Government and Roman Catholic leaders in Negros Occidental, along with the rest of world, yesterday welcomed the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as the new pope, and called on the faithful to pray for his success.

“Pope Francis is a gift from heaven…he is the choice of the Holy Spirit,” Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra said, after presiding over the ordination of Jose Paulo Lanuza and Michael Andres Pajares as priests at rites at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City yesterday morning.

Navarra’s announcement of the name of the new pope to the congregation at the Cathedral was met with thunderous applause.

Jaro Auxiliary Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, who was also at the ordination rites, said the name the new pope chose is significant to our time.

St. Francis of Assisi came from a very rich family but he renounced his wealth to serve God, and to reform the Church in his time, Alminaza said.

The new pope is known for his simplicity, he was a bishop who has fought for social justice and love for the poor that is an affirmation of what we are doing here as a Church, Alminaza added.

Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. said he is thankful there is a new pope, and urged Negrenses to pray for his success and guidance by the Holy Spirit as he faces a Church and world full of problems.

“We join the Catholic world in rejoicing and welcoming our new Pope Francis I. Being the first non-European and an Argentine at that, he brings with him the message that, indeed, the Church is becoming more universal and we should expect some changes in how practices and issues will be treated,” Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said.

“With his humble beginnings and his simple approaches in life, we are reminded that God's blessings can come to anyone. We are all equal in His eyes,” the mayor added.

Msgr. Victorino Rivas, rector of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Shrine in Bacolod City, said the new Pope has been able to maintain a balance between the extreme sway of the liberation theology and the ideological right, which will be important as he leads the Catholic Church.

Rivas said under Pope Francis, he expects that stress will be placed on a return to the basics, such as the need to be pro-life and pro-marriage.

“Pope Francis is a simple, open, kind and forgiving man, who will be an effective evangelizer. I am optimistic for the Catholic Church,” Rivas said.

In Manila, President Benigno Aquino, along with the Filipinos, joined all the Catholic faithful in welcoming the new Pope, his spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said.

The President prays the Catholic pontiff will serve as a voice for peace, justice, and charity in a world threatened by tension and armed conflict, poverty, uncertainty, and loss of confidence in institutions, he added.*CPG

                                                            ***

VATICAN – Pope Francis embarked yesterday on a ground-breaking papacy as the first Latin American leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics and a Church in turmoil.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, the humble 76-year-old son of a railway man, kicked off his first full day as pontiff with private prayers at a Rome basilica.

The election of the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, who had not been considered a favorite in the run-up to this week's secret conclave, met with widespread surprise and expressions of hope for a groundswell of change for a Church dogged by scandal and internal conflict.

It was also seen as recognition of the Church's rapid growth in Latin America, which is now home to 40 percent of the world's Catholics, in contrast to its decline in Europe.

“The choice of Bergoglio shows that the Church is determined not to remain in mourning for the crisis in Europe but has opened its doors to the revitalizing energy of Catholicism's biggest continent," Vatican expert Luigi Accatoli told AFP. "It is a momentous step."

The Italian daily La Repubblica, under the headline "Revolution at St Peter’s", said the election of the former Jesuit priest represented a "geographic and cultural upheaval" for the Vatican.

The new pontiff, the first from the Jesuit order, emerged smiling onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday to cries of "Long live the pope!" from tens of thousands of pilgrims massed in the famous piazza below.

The first non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years devoted his first prayer to his predecessor, Benedict XVI, and called for "fraternity" among Catholics.

“It seems that my brother cardinals have gone to the ends of the earth (to find a pope)," Francis said, referring to his native Argentina, which erupted in celebrations at his appointment.

“Now, we take up this journey... A journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us," he said.

Bergoglio, seen as a moderate conservative, had barely figured in the pre-vote speculation, although he is believed to have finished runner-up to Benedict in the 2005 election.

Presenting an image as a simple man of the people, he chose to name himself after the ascetic St. Francis of Assisi.

But Bergoglio, hailed by US President Barack Obama as "a champion of the poor and the most vulnerable among us", is not without controversy.

He was criticized along with other Catholic clergy for failing to stand up to Argentina's military dictatorship of 1976-83, during which 30,000 people died or disappeared.

More recently, his opposition to gay marriage and the distribution of contraceptives has brought him into conflict with the Argentine government.

The Argentinian of Italian descent became the 266th pope after Benedict stunned the world in February with his decision to resign, the first to voluntarily step down in 700 years.

The Vatican said Francis’s inauguration mass would take place on Tuesday -- a significant date in the Catholic calendar because it is the Feast of St Joseph, patron saint of the universal Church.*AFP

back to top