adminOthers, however, said they would have preferred a black pope since about 15 percent of the world’s 1,2 billion Catholics live in Africa and the percentage had expanded significantly in recent years compared to other parts of the world.
Bergoglio (76) became the church’s first Jesuit and Latin American pontiff after five rounds of voting in the Vatican. The voting ended on Wednesday night.
Bergoglio, who is a conservative, succeeds Pope Benedict XVI who resigned last month.
He becomes the 266th Pope in the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year history.
Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference secretary-general Father Frederick Chiromba yesterday said the election showed that the church was universal.
“We are happy with the elections especially that at least now after more than a thousand years we again have a non-European Pope,” he said.
“The move has come at a right time when the church is growing more in the south than in the north.”
Fr Chiromba said they hoped that the new Pope would address the challenges catholic churches were facing.
“In the times we are living, we are faced with a number of challenges and it is our hope that the Pope will assist us until we overcome all difficulties,” he said.
The Pope’s representative in Zimbabwe Fr George Kocherry, described Bergoglio’s election as a “good choice”.
He said the new Pope was “solid in theology”.
“This a good choice made by the cardinals because the Pope is well known as a person that serve the interests of the poor in Argentina,” he said.
“He is an intellectual person who is also kind to his people. He is also accessible and a great spiritual head of the church.”
He said Bergoglio was a humble man. “You can also see that after being elected and before he appeared in public he quickly phoned his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI, which is a good gesture of humility,” Fr Kocherry said. “This is a great development as he is the first person to take the name Francis.”
Fr Kocherry said Bergoglio’’s inauguration would be held on Tuesday.
“This evening he will celebrate mass with all the cardinals who elected him in the conclave. On Saturday (tomorrow) he will meet journalists in the morning,” he said.
However, other Catholics believe a black pope should have been elected to give the church “a new direction and impetus.”
Mrs Melody Tagarira of Harare said problems being faced by African catholics would be best addressed by a black pontiff.
“We feel we are being sidelined on many issues and the only way we can feel to be part of the church is through a black leader,” she said.
On Wednesday, Bergoglio emerged from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to the cry of “Habemus Papam!” (“We Have a Pope!”), as tens of thousands of pilgrims clambered over barriers and broke down in tears, overcome with emotion after suspenseful prayer vigils worldwide.
White smoke had earlier billowed from the Sistine Chapel and the bells of St Peter’s Basilica rang out, signalling the election had taken place after five rounds of voting in the Vatican – one more than when Benedict XVI was elected in 2005.
Bergoglio is believed to have been the runner-up in 2005.
Benedict’s style was often seen as too academic and he was never as popular as his predecessor.
Many of the cardinals have called for the new pope to be a better communicator, able to reach out particularly to young people.
Conclaves are usually only held after a pope dies and are sometimes decades apart – the last one was in 2005, the one before that 1978.
Online Reporter