New Pope Francis Elected, Local Catholics Look to Rebuilding of Church

Catholics throughout the River Dell area have already begun including Pope Francis in their prayers following his election in Rome.

Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires – the first Jesuit and the first cardinal from the Americas to be Pope – was named the new Pope Francis Wednesday afternoon.

"We have already begun including Pope Francis by name in all of our services," Reverend Michael Sheehan of Saint Peter's in River Edge said. "He comes from a different part of the world which shows how our church is growing universally. South American has the largest growing Catholic population."

According to a release from the Vatican, Bergoglio was born in Argentina in 1936. The Italian immigrant is known as a humble man who previously headed the Church’s Jesuit order, NYTimes.com reported. He chose the name Francis after St. Francis of Assisi, the report said.

According to Sheehan, he hopes that by choosing the name of Francis, the new Pope will recal the ideals of Saint Francis who preached about rebuilding the church.

"My hope is that he will use his Jesuit training and experience as a teacher to serve us well as the new Holy Father," Sheehan said. "Especially as he continues to bring the Church into the 20th century."

Francis at 76, is the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church and first non-European pope in more than 1,200 years and the first member of the Jesuit order to lead the church. He was the archbishop of Buenos Aires previously.