Local Catholics excited about pope

The selection of the first pontiff from the Americas on Wednesday sends a couple of messages to the world, a local church leader says.

“I think they realize the universality of the church,” Father Dan Staublin said of the cardinals who picked Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina as the 266th pope.

After his selection, Bergogolio chose the name Francis after St. Francis of Assisi. Francis is the first pope from outside Europe in a millennium and the first Jesuit to be named pope.

Staublin, pastor of St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Seymour and Our Lady of Providence in Brownstown, said he thinks the 115 cardinals who picked Bergogolio know the church’s fastest area of growth is Latin America and its fastest growth in North America is among Latinos. That’s certainly true in Seymour, Staublin said.

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