Hyderabad:

Roman Catholics in the city have hailed the election of the new Pope, Francis I, from Argentina, the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years. Special prayers will be held for the man who will lead over 1.2 billion Roman Catholics in the modern world.

Archbishop of Hyderabad Rev. Thumma Bala said, “I am very pleased to express my joy on the election of the new pontiff, Pope Francis I. I extend our cordial congratulations and felicitation to the most holy man.”

Jayasudha, the MLA from Secunderabad, said, “I am glad that this time something different has taken place. After so many years they have elected a Pope from outside Europe. We can only hope for the best and pray for the Pope to continue God’s work and bring about peace in the world, which is most important.”

Father Valentine D’Mello of Holy Trinity Church, Begumpet, said there would be special celebrations and a mass dedicated to Pope Francis.

“We will have special ringing of the bells and we will have our celebrations in the mass. We will be praying for him and there will be a thanksgiving chant after the mass. One of these days, we will be dedicating the whole celebration to the Pope,” he said.

Kevin Michael, a parishioner of John the Baptist Church said, “We are happy since we received the news this morning that we have got a new Pope who is simple, polite and a religious person. We pray for him so that he can lead the church of over 1.5 billion Catholics all over the world, and that he can lead the church forward in the modern world.”

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / by Coreena Suares / March 15th, 2013