The Bishop of Algarve said today that the pope's election was "a pleasant surprise" because there was a consensus of cardinals and because a person was chosen outside the geographical scope of Europe.
“It was a pleasant surprise that the cardinals reached a consensus in just over 24 hours, for having assumed the name Francisco, with everything that this name evokes”, said Manuel Neto Quintas in a statement sent to Lusa agency.
“Francisco, through this personal choice, together with the gestures and language adopted in the first intervention before the city of Rome and the world, told us what is the personal and pastoral program with which he intends to inspire his ministry as Peter's successor” said the prelate.
Manuel Neto Quintas indicated that "the pope's first challenge lies in the response of the entire Church to support him and accompany him in what has already begun to be his own style, a profoundly evangelical style that he intends to impress on the entire Church."
The bishop of the Algarve believes that Pope Francis “will surprise, without subjecting himself to comparisons, certainly taking advantage of the specific testimony of his predecessors, but affirming his own way of exercising the Petrine ministry to which he was called”.
“Personally, and I hope to involve the Algarve diocese and each of its communities in this, I will endeavor to respond to this first challenge, with the courage and fidelity that are inherent to it”, asserted Manuel Neto Quintas.
Argentine Jesuit Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, was elected pope on Wednesday by the 115 cardinals gathered in Rome, assuming the name of Francis.
Francis succeeds Benedict XVI and is the 266th pope of the Catholic Church.
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