BY Liz Leydon | March 13 | 
1 COMMENT 
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Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina becomes Pope Francis
Non European Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, 76, is new Pope, runner up in last election in 2005. As the 265th Holy Father, he has choosen the name Francis.
Pope Francis is the first Pope since Pope Gregory not to come from Europe, and he is the first Jesuit Pope. The Archbishop of Buenos Aires is said to have traditional, simple Catholic views.
On balcony at St Peter’s (above and below), about to speak in Latin: “Before I bless you as your new bishop, new Pope, I ask you to ask the Lord to Bless me,” Pope Francis said, asking for silence and granting a plenary indulgence to all watching and listening throughout the world.
He also thanked his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI and pledged to pray the Angelus on Sunday.
Around 42 per cent of Catholics in the world live in Latin America.
As the white smoke billowed the chimney of the Sistine Chapel tonight Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow said: “As soon as I heard I went into my chapel and offered a grateful and joyful prayer of thanksgiving … Deo Gratias!”
Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster said the choice of Pope Francis was a ‘surprise.’
The chimney above the Sistine Chapel billowed white smoke (below) just after 6pm tonight. Pope Francis appeared on the balcony at the Vatican just after 7pm.
—For more on Pope Francis, click here
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Lets hope that our new Pontiff Pope Francis will work hard to transform our church. In particular I hope that he has the courage to address the issues of our clergy involved in sexual ‘scenarios’. Most importantly the abuse scandals which have involved children or others. For the sake of the Roman Catholic faithful this really needs to be addressed transparently so that we can see what is being done to address this, and know that members of our clergy who engage in such behaviours are not above the law.
Many Roman Catholics are struggling with this, and are at a real crucial point in their faith journey trying to determine if this faith journey needs to continue within the Roman Catholic church or not.