The Bishop of Derry has said it is “good news” that a new Pope has been elected “reasonably quickly”.
White smoke started billowing from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel in Rome shortly after 5 pm, signalling the secret voting process had finished and it had secured at least 89 of the 133 cardinals who were eligible to vote.
The new pope is 69-year-old American Robert Prevost of the Augustine Order – known to friends simply as ‘Bob’ – who will be known as Pope Leo XIV.
He appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica and thanked the crowds of up to 50,000 who cheered him joyfully from St Peter’s Square.
Speaking about the two-day conclave, Bishop Donal McKeown said: “Had it gone on much longer, another day or so, it would’ve been a sign of a rather split conclave.
“I’m working on the assumption this means that they have reached a consensus at a comparatively early stage which is good news for all of us.”
Bishop McKeown met Robert Prevost in Rome last October.
He told BBC News NI that he found the new Pope to be a “most amenable person”.
“He came on his own to meet me in the office, he sat and listened, asked intelligent questions, he knew his brief,” Bishop McKeown said.
“I was very impressed by the courtesy with which I was met on that occasion. In the congregation for bishops I’m very small fry. He treated me with enormous respect and courtesy and I’m very impressed.”
Bishop McKeown said that “leading any organisation is terribly difficult”.
He added: “A leadership of the worldwide Catholic Church is an enormous challenge but I saw before me last October a fit, healthy man who was gracious in all that he did.”
The Chicago-born pontiff delivered his first speech, bringing a “greeting of peace” and God’s love to the faithful below him.
He paid tribute to his predecessor Pope Francis, and even spoke briefly in Spanish to thank his former diocese.
“Help us, and help each other, build bridges,” he told the crowds of people in St Peter’s Square.
“I would like this greeting of peace to reach all your hearts and families… and people around the world. May peace be with you.”
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