The bells at St. Peter's Cathedral rang in concert with the bells tolling in Rome on Wednesday as Catholics downtown celebrated the sight of white smoke rising 4,000 miles away.
Catholics in the Diocese of Scranton welcomed as their new pope a prelate known for living a simple pastor's life but whose selection is pathbreaking. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is the first pope from the Americas, the first Jesuit, the first to take the name Francis.
"Clearly, the church now is the church universal," Bishop Joseph C. Bambera said in the chancery on Wednesday afternoon, noting that the first South American pope followed popes from Germany and Poland in breaking a trend of Italian pontiffs.
He said he was struck most by Pope Francis' unmistakable signs of humility. The new pope wore a white cassock without the traditional velvet and ermine-trimmed mozzetta, an ornate cape, to greet the world. He asked the crowd gathered at the Vatican to bless him before he blessed them.
"He knelt down, and that crowd was silent in prayer for him," Bishop Bambera said. "What a wonderful, wonderful statement of faith in God's people and of brotherhood and sisterhood."
Religion and theology professors from area Catholic colleges said the cardinals' surprising selection signals that the church's princes were seeking a pastor as pope.
"The fact that they chose somebody who has spent his leadership career in a diocese, that tells me that the cardinals are concerned about pastoral leadership, evangelization and spreading the gospel," Joseph Curran, Ph.D., a religious studies professor at Misericordia University, said.
He called the selection a "wonderful vote of confidence" for the Jesuit order whose priestly formation process produces "spiritually deep and gifted people."
The pope's name also suggests a "fresh start." Dr. Curran noted that no pope in more than 1,000 years had chosen a name unused by any prior pope.
The University of Scranton felt a particular connection to the pope. University President Kevin P. Quinn, S.J., said the school, like Jesuit colleges and universities around the globe, "shares a special bond" with Pope Francis and "shares the joy of Catholics worldwide" at his selection.
I. Michael Bellafiore, S.J., an assistant theology professor at the university, said the fact that the cardinals selected an older candidate, 76, after a relatively short conclave "confirms that they must have been impressed by his sanctity, that he really is a holy man and the man that God wanted at this moment."
Most local church observers expect only modest changes with the new papacy - they said Francis will likely bring to the church new emphasis on issues of poverty and economic inequality, but he is known for his commitment to church teaching on issues concerning sexuality and abortion.
Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, Ph.D., an East Stroudsburg resident and emeritus professor who writes about Catholicism for the Washington Post's "On Faith" blog network, said he thought of Pope John XXIII when he saw Pope Francis emerge on the balcony. Pope John XXIII was "supposed to be too old to make a difference, to be faithful and not make any waves" but then he convened the Second Vatican Council that changed the modern church.
Pope Francis, he said, "is not going to upset the church. But he is going to break new ground in changing the way the church deals with the world.
"This is a pope whose charisma is in his actions, not in his words."
Early Wednesday, Holy Cross High School theology teacher Kathy Yaklic, the school's director of religious formation, taught a lesson about the history of papal conclaves. Since the conclave began, students at the Catholic school in Dunmore had been praying for the cardinals.
Students asked what language the cardinals from around the world used to speak to one another. (Latin, or perhaps some English, Mrs. Yaklic said.) The students also asked what the cardinals ate for dinner Tuesday night.
"I heard it was pasta," Mrs. Yaklic said.
Before the votes began on Tuesday, the students were each given the name of a cardinal using the website adoptacardinal.org.
Each day, freshman Zoë Haggerty prayed for Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera of Spain.
"It's so interesting," she said. "I'm absolutely fascinated,"
Mrs. Yaklic hoped her students would see the chance to witness history as a way to further connect with the Church.
"If they come away saying 'our church is alive and well,' that means so much more to me than a test on a paper," Mrs. Yaklic said.
Contact the writers: llegere@timesshamrock.com, shofius@timesshamrock.com