Asian American Catholics Welcome Pope

By Jennie L. Ilustre

WASHINGTON, D.C.–Fred Semendy, executive chairman of the Asian Pacific American Catholic Network (APACN), told Asian Fortune he welcomed the recent election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as the new pope.

Cardinal Bergoglio will be officially installed as the new pope in a mass next Tuesday (March 19). He chose as his name Pope Francis I, after the 12th century saint known for rebuilding the Church and as the champion of the poor.

“Pope Francis I will be a blessing for the Church, and he will be good for all Catholics all over the world,” Semendy said in a telephone interview this afternoon. “He will bring a new message to Catholics in Asia, in Africa, everywhere.” There are 1.2 billion Catholics all over the world.

Semendy added: “It is significant that he chose the name Francis, a name that was not chosen before. He could have chosen the name Pope John Paul III, for example. It means he’s going to be different. St. Francis of Assisi rebuilt the Catholic Church. There is an indication the new pope intends to bring them back, like Jesus said to St. Francis.”

Semendy watched the news coverage yesterday on CNN and EWTN, the Catholic News Network. He praised the new pope’s humility, his simplicity, and his open-heartedness. “I mean, as a cardinal, he shunned the palatial residence, the limousine,” he said. “He lived in an apartment, cooked his own meals, he rode the bus, he biked…He championed the poor, visited the ill.”

Founded three years ago, APACN is based in the nation’s capital. It has members in the East Coast region: Virginia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Ed Tiong, coordinator of the Filipino Ministry of Northern Virginia, also said he was heartened by the pope’s choice of the name. St. Francis of Assisi’s story, he stressed, revolved on “rebuilding” the Church.

Tiong said in a telephone interview, “I’m praying for spiritual guidance for the new pope. He faces a big task, particularly in the decisions he will be making, given that there has been a lot of issues facing the Church, as a faith and as an institution.”

Among the top issues Tiong cited were incidents of sex abuse by priests “and the growing number of Catholics who have left the Church.”

Cora Arca, head servant of Jesus is All in Anandale, Virginia, said her group would be praying for the new pope “when we hold our regular prayer meeting this Sunday afternoon.” She expressed joy that the swift election meant there would be a new pope who will be celebrating the Easter Sunday mass on March 24.

Destiny seems to beckon the first pope from the Latin American region, where nearly 40 percent of the world’s Catholics live.

The media reported Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina got the second highest number of votes in the 2005 election by the conclave, which chose Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Benedict (now known as pope emeritus) resigned as pontiff last February 28, citing frailty “in body and mind.”

Prayer for Peace

APACN Executive Chairman Semendy also noted that the new pope’s choice of name after St. Francis is symbolic. St. Francis of Assisi’s “Prayer for Peace” is much loved by Catholics, and it is sung in most Catholic services.