Habemus Papam!

We have a new Pope! This evening the conclave which assembled on Monday, chose Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, a 76-year-old Jesuit scholar, as the new Pope, and he will be known as Francis I. He is a surprising choice and the first non-European Pope for a thousand years. On account of the new Pope's age alone his pontificate is unlikely to be a long one and, if the precedent set by his predecessor is followed, we have every reason to imagine that it will be relatively short.
One thing we do know is that however short or long the new Pope's reign, he will face significant challenges and will need all the help – human and Divine – that he can muster. Pope Francis will have to deal not only with the domestic problems of the Catholic Church (of which there are several) but he will also need to prove himself adept at ecumenical and interfaith endeavour. He will need to proclaim the Christian message loudly and clearly, as well as being a reconciler. We hope that he will follow the example of our own Archbishop of Canterbury in challenging unfair and counter-productive social policies.
In discharging his duties as the Successor of St Peter, Pope Francis will need and deserve the prayers of all Christian people of goodwill, both Catholic and non-Catholic. We wish him well as he embarks upon a task which will be difficult if it is anything.

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