Community Corner

Archbishop Chaput: New Pope Francis a 'Wonderful Choice'

The head of the Catholic church in Philadelphia has met the former Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina, who was announced as the new pope on Wednesday.

 

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput released the following statement to media Wednesday afternoon upon the election of Pope Francis:

I first met our new Holy Father at Rome's 1997 Synod for America, and still have a gift from him, a portrait of Mary, the mother of Jesus, on my desk.

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Pope Francis, the former Cardinal Bergoglio, is a man from the new heartland of the global Church; a priest  of extraordinary intellectual and cultural strengths; a man deeply engaged in the issues of contemporary life and able to speak to the modern heart; open to the new realities the Church faces; and rooted in a deep love of Jesus Christ.  He is a wonderful choice; a pastor God sends not just to the Church but to every person of good will who honestly yearns for justice, peace and human dignity in our time.  May God grant him courage and joy, and sustain him with his divine presence.

And may Catholics in Philadelphia and around the world lift him up with our prayers.

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U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, a Catholic, released the following statement:

The Catholic Church is the largest charitable, healthcare and educational institution in the world, and the spiritual home to 1.2 billion Catholics around the globe. The new Holy Father Francis I has an immense task ahead of him and I pray that God will uphold him with strength, wisdom and courage to take on the challenges and beauty of his new role.



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