New Pope Gets Reaction in Forest Hills

The Vatican Conclave at the Sistine Chapel selected a new pope on Wednesday, as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis.

Reactions from across New York City and locally are coming in slowly. 

The city Fire Department's chaplain, a Franciscan, said he was excited that newly elected Jorge Bergoglio had taken the name Pope Francis.

Father Chris Keenan, who is the FDNY's chaplain as well as the campus chaplain for the Bronx's College of Mount Saint Vincent, said he thought Pope Francis was a unique choice.

"Of the 1.2 billion Catholics in the world, one in four are in Central and South America," he said. "And this is the first time the papacy has moved from Europe to the west. That's really something very significant."

Bergoglio, who will replace Benedict XVI to become the 266th pontiff, is also the first to have taken the name of Francis.

"It's appropriate that he chose the name Francis because he has a great passion for justice and for the poor," Keenan said.

Matt Shields, executive director of the College of Mount Saint Vincent's campus ministry, said he had rung a bell at the school to celebrate the choosing of the new pope.

City Councilman Dan Halloran congratulated Catholics, as well.

"The College of Cardinals has named a pope- Congratulations to my Catholic friends on the change in the Holy See," Halloran wrote on Twitter.

President Barack Obama marked the occassion as well, and its significance for South America.

" As the first pope from the Americas, his selection also speaks to the strength and vitality of a region that is increasingly shaping our world, and alongside millions of Hispanic Americans, those of us in the United States share the joy of this historic day," Obama said in a statement from the White House.