New pope’s selection brings ‘a great joy’ to world, CSRA
AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - The CSRA was watching Vatican City along with the rest of the world on Thursday when white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel chimney - signaling that a new pope had been elected.
And in a first, the new pope is an American.
Like others across the region, the Rev. Richard Wilson at St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church in Aiken said he’s excited about Robert Prevost gaining the from other cardinals to become pope.
Now Prevost, a Chicago native, is known as Pope Leo XIV
“It’s a great joy that for 1.4 billion Catholics to have a pope again, the 267th,” said Wilson.
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“People have been asking me, ‘Who’s going to be the new pope? Who are your picks? What do you think? etc., etc. And one thing I said for certain is the pope won’t be from the United States. So I’m not a prophet. I really didn’t think that they would ever pick someone from the United States. So that was a big, big, big surprise,” said Wilson.
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“We rejoice in the good things that he’s done for us, and we pray for him as he is in our Lord’s hands,” said Wilson.
“Pope Francis, we had his picture with black bunting around it and a guest book where people could sign. And so now we’ll be putting up papal bunting as soon as we get it around the three churches. We’ll have some bunting up this weekend at our Mass. We’ll have the gold and the white,” said Wilson.
It’s tradition for the pope to select a new name, and Wilson says he’s happy with the new pick.
HEAR THE NEW POPE’S FIRST SPEECH:
“Leo the XIII was a fabulous pope – absolutely wonderful, did so many things. He served a long time, and so I haven’t heard him express his reasons for choosing Leo the XIV, but he’s following an excellent Pope Leo the XIII. So, I’m excited that he chose that name.”
Though he doesn’t know him personally, he says he finds comfort in being able to connect with the new pope.
“I also served in the Army. I was a Latin American foreign area officer. I served in Venezuela, and I was in Panama. And I’ve traveled to Peru. So, he spent over ten years in Peru. I think he was also in Paraguay, so that connection that I have with him in of time in Latin America is very important,” Wilson said.
PHOTO GALLERY: WORLD HAS FIRST U.S.-BORN POPE
And he prays for the future of the Catholic Church.
“Our hope and our prayer for all the popes is that he will confirm the faith of the brethren right and that he will guard the deposit of faith that we receive from our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Wilson is also from the Midwest, and says there’s only one uncertainty now: “You know, he’s from Chicago. Is he a Cubs fan or is he a White Sox fan? I think I’ve heard he’s a Cubs fan.”
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