BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA: Tears and cheers erupted across Latin America on Wednesday as an Argentine cardinal became the first pope from the hemisphere, and many expressed hope that he help bring the church closer to the poverty-wracked region that is home to more Roman Catholics than any other.
Drivers honked horns on the streets of Argentina’s capital and television announcers screamed with elation at the news that the cardinal they knew as Jorge Mario Bergoglio had become Pope Francis.
People jammed the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires for a Mass for the new pope, and priests said they hadn’t seen such a big crowd in decades.
“Francisco! Francisco!” the faithful screamed. Outside, a thousand people sang and waved Vatican and Argentine flags.
“It’s incredible!” said Martha Ruiz, 60, as she wept.
She said she had been in many meetings with the cardinal and described him as “a man who transmits great serenity.”
“It’s a huge gift for all of Latin America. We waited 20 centuries. It was worth the wait,” said Jose Antonio Cruz, a Franciscan friar at the church of St. Francis of Assisi in the colonial Old San Juan district in Puerto Rico.
In Cuba, parish priest Gregorio Alvarez said he believes Francis’ background could lead the church to focus more on the ills afflicting humanity, and less on internal issues.
“One hopes that the church will be closer to the problems of humankind and not only the problems of the church,” Alvarez said at the Jesus of Miramar Church in a leafy western suburb of Havana, where bells pealed following the announcement.
Even Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, a sometimes antagonist who once compared Bergoglio’s stands on abortion and gay rights to “medieval times and the Inquisition,” offered congratulations.
“It’s our desire that you have … a fruitful pastoral work, developing such great responsibilities in terms of justice, equality, fraternity and peace for humankind,” she wrote in an open letter.