'Pope will spread message of peace'

CATHOLICS across Notts have welcomed the election of a new Pope.

White smoked emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel in Rome on Wednesday night as Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected.

Crowds of more than 100,000 people had amassed in St Peter's Square for the papal conclave, and the successful vote was the third attempt to find a majority consensus.

The Bishop of Nottingham, the Right Reverend Malcolm McMahon, gave his blessing to the appointment.

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He said: "I welcome very much the election of Pope Francis. As a priest and a bishop, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has amassed a great wealth of pastoral experience which he can now share with the universal church.

"I am sure that Pope Francis will spread the good news of Jesus Christ in all that he says and does, using his words wisely to promote in particular the Church's social teaching, giving a message of peace and justice which the world needs to hear more than ever."

The new Pope spent his first day at the helm of the Catholic Church meeting residents in Rome, held a Sistine Chapel Mass and met local schoolchildren and commuters heading to work. He also started the process of appointing senior staff at the Vatican.

Father Geoffrey Hunton, Dean and Parish Priest at Nottingham's St Barnabas' Cathedral, said: "I was very surprised they had come to a decision so quickly.

"There's a humility about him and that is important."

Father Hunton added: "The challenges and tasks are guiding the church so it is loyal to the gospel.

"I hope there will be a good reaction."

Seventy-six-year-old Pope Francis I, from Buenos Aires, is the first Latin American and the first Jesuit to be pontiff.

Joseph Hopkins is the lay chaplain at the University of Nottingham and Christ the King school in Arnold.

He said: "I was watching and I was very surprised. When they were reading it out I was trying to work it out.

"It's interesting reading about him – it sounds like it's going to be a very good papacy.

"I'm quite excited to see how he builds on the previous work."

Mr Hopkins added: "I think we're losing our missionary zeal – we've been too easy to give up our faith."