Malacañang on Thursday welcomed the election of Pope Francis, wishing the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church “strength and wisdom.”
“The President, along with the Filipino people, joins all the Catholic faithful as they receive their new leader and meet his proclamation with a sense of boundless promise,” the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson said in a press statement.
“This is not merely a time for all Catholics to come together. This is a call for unity across nations—across ethnicities—to work with the new Catholic leadership towards shaping a world in which each and every human being is allowed to live a life of peace, joy, and dignity,” the Palace also said.
The Palace said the Aquino administration is “eager to work with the new Catholic leadership to achieve that end.”
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle, who was named a cardinal in November last year, was among the contenders for the papacy. The 115 cardinals, including Tagle, who went into a conclave this week chose Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio to succeed Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who retired on February 28.
