New pope raises hopes

At 20.10 p.M., prime time, 76-year-old sudamerican jorge mario bergoglio stepped onto the balcony of st. Peter's cathedral for the first time wednesday as pope francis. A rough moment – also for the catholic faithful in the deanery of habberge.

Discussion on homophobia
The whole world is now looking at the new head of the church and trying to guess what priorities the jesuit will set. There was also a lively discussion on facebook about the new pope, which mainly revolved around franciscus' homophobia. In 2010, the archbishop of buenos aires tried to prevent the legalization of gay marriage in argentina.

On facebook, french songwriter and former evangelical pastor wolfgang buck (bamberg district) also comments on the issue. He advises his fellow discussants:

"stay pragmatic and patient and look at who else has stood for election. In this sense, I found him very likeable and modest and approachable, and I think it was a good choice that leads in the right direction. Therefore, I would not take the homosexual issue as a killer criterion. Any attempt at openness and liberalization must be buried. And as one hort, he was the candidate of the liberals. I give him the benefit of the doubt."

Sudamerican national pride
The zeiler maria augusta leisentritt is from ecuador in south america. What does the 42-year-old say about the choice of an argentinean? "I am very proud and happy about the choice of a latin american", tells leisentritt. There are many catholics in latin america, she herself is catholic as well. "I wish for peace in the world", she says.

Father thomas klemm from the parish of eltmann has many expectations of franciscus – even though he had actually expected an italian to be the new pope. He hopes that the head of the church will succeed in tackling and solving the many problems of the catholic church. He cites as examples the handling of the abuse scandals and the further development of ecumenism. "I also hope that a latin american will open the eyes of the universal church", says thomas klemm.

The news of the election of the pope surprised the parish priest at a meeting of the church administration. "We soon ended the meeting so that we could watch the election on TV at home", tells klemm. He was particularly pleased that the pope was named after st. Francis of assisi. "This shows that he will focus on raising awareness of poverty in the world."

Dean stefan gessner of the habberge deanery wants to "wait and see", until the new one has settled into office. "He certainly didn't expect to be elected either", mutmabt gessner. He was also surprised to hear the name of the new pope on the radio on his way back from a conference. "There was relatively little known about him, he was not in the focus, and his name was not among the favorites", gessner describes.

Tackling and loosening
Even if gessner wants to temper his expectations, he has already had some desires. He hopes the new head of the catholic church will address the role of women, the loss of faith and the church's commitment to society. "I don't know how ecumenism is lived in argentina, but it is also an important concern", says the dean from mursbach.

Deacon manfred griebel is very positively impressed by the choice of name of the sudamerican: "i am a great admirer of saint franciscus of assisi. I find it very good that the new pope signals by his choice of name to take care of the weak in our society. Many people are suffocating in fear and wish for love, peace and acceptance."

The expert advisor for emergency pastoral care in the deanery of habberge wants to leave it at that. "It is very important to give the new pope time and space and not to overload him with expectations", says griebel (parish habfurt).

The new man at the helm of the catholic church doesn't have it easy anyway. That is why it is all the more important that the grassroots live the message of jesus and fraternal ecumenism. "The better this works at the bottom, the better the pope can act at the top", griebel says.

When female smoke rose above the vatican, manfred griebel was leading a group of visitors through the ecumenical bible tower in habfurt. "When the bells rang, i already knew that a new pope had been elected." When griebel looked at his cell phone after the election, there were already twelve short messages waiting with "habemus papam" on it.

Dean jurgen blechschmidt of the protestant deanery of rugheim was not very pleased about the choice of the argentinean jorge mario bergoglio. "Latin americans are not exactly known for being open to ecumenism. I don't expect any major changes from the new pope", commented the evangelical dean succinctly. He did not watch the election live on television, but waited for the result. "Why should i be, i'm evangelical", declares the priest. Almost all the parishes in the district belong to the protestant deanery of rugheim.

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