IVORY COAST: Catholics in Abidjan say they are happy the Catholic Church has chosen a pope from an emerging economy and hope his humble roots will allow him to help the African faithful

Record ID: 182305

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Catholics in Abidjan say they are happy the Catholic Church has chosen a pope from an emerging economy and hope his humble roots will allow him to help the African faithful
  • Date: 14th March 2013
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING: "FRANCIS THE FIRST: STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES'
  • Embargoed: 29th March 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cote d'Ivoire
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA6KU4SR8M5NBFTI4VWRUAY5XVQ
  • Story Text: It was all prayers for the new Pope on Thursday (March 14) morning at a church in Abidjan's leafy suburb of Cocody.
    Francis, the Argentine cardinal, was in the thoughts and prayers of many African Catholic faithful who make up some 16 percent of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

    "Let's pray for our Holy Father the Pope, so that his time in service is a time which will be under God's watchful eye, and that the services he gives will be following God's wishes, for the glory of God, for the good of his church and for the peace of our hearts," said Father Blaise Anoh at mass on Thursday morning.
    African Catholics had been hoping a candidate from their continent could win the papacy this time round. Likely candidates from Africa had included Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson.
    The first leader of the church to come from Latin America, home to nearly half the world's Catholics, Francis also takes the title of Bishop of Rome.
    Bergoglio is known as a humble man who leads an austere and sober life without ostentation, travelling by public transport and living in a small apartment outside Buenos Aires.

    "It inspires me with a great feeling to see that today the whole of the Church has a Pope according to God's own heart, and not according to man's heart," said Celine Kanga Ebe, a Catholic faithful at mass on Thursday.
    Although a conservative, Francis is seen as a reformer and was not among the small group of frontrunners identified before the election.
    The Jesuit order to which he belongs was founded in the 16th century to serve the pope.
    It is best known for its work in education and the intellectual prowess of its members.
    Abidjan city councillor Amedee Koutouan says she believes these are qualities that will help Francis achieve success also for the African continent.

    "We in Africa we are waiting for him to come up with strong resolutions to help us come out of our impasse because you see we are suffering a lot. We are suffering, Africa is suffering and we need his help and his advice, I would say for him to really, effectively get involved," Koutouan said.
    His unexpected election answered some fundamental questions about the direction of the Church in the coming years.
    After more than a millennium of European leadership, the cardinal-electors looked to Latin America, where 42 percent of the world's Catholics live.
    The continent is more focused on poverty and the rise of evangelical churches than questions of materialism and sexual abuse, which dominate in the West.
    Although Pope Francis replaces Pope Benedict, many Ivorians still remember and hold Jean Paul II close to their heart, and hope the new pope can follow in his footsteps.

    "Me personally I would like it a lot if he did like John Paul II did, come and see us in Africa, because Africa is the future of the Catholic Church," said Alphonsine Manke, a retired nursery school teacher from Abidjan.
    In his first words to the crowd in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday evening he made clear that he would take that part of his role seriously.
    The 266th pontiff in the Church's 2,000-year history, Francis is taking the helm at a time of great crisis with morale among the faithful hit by a widespread child sex abuse scandal and infighting in the Vatican bureaucracy.
    END
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