“I miss my pope,” said Linda Cacpal, a St. Elizabeth, Aiea, parishioner who has an immense fondness for Benedict XVI, his clear, scholarly teaching, and his gentle and courteous ways.
Nevertheless, she has already started a file of news clips on Pope Francis, although it may take a while before it matches the size of her Benedict collection.
The new pontiff has impressed Cacpal by his “concrete action for the poor,” his “missionary” spirit, his outsider status.
And his choice of name: “I am a secular Franciscan. I am glad to see him emphasizing simplicity,” she said.
Even his papal ring is “recycled,” borrowed from an earlier pope’s secretary, she said.
“I am glad to see a Jesuit in there,” added Cacpal, a longtime catechist and her parish’s former RCIA director. “We need a missionary pope. We are ready for one with a deep pastoral background … a reformer with experience dealing with the government of his country and of his own community.”
Pope Francis is also a hit with three Island priests — a South American, a Jesuit and a Franciscan — who share those particular affiliations with him.
“I was happy, absolutely,” said Father John Fredy Quintero, a priest from Colombia, a country on the same continent as Argentina, the pope’s home.
He said that the Catholic Church in South America is very involved in the “social reality of poverty” and that the new pope has a “sincerity” in this regard.
Father Quintero, the pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Kalihi, had been hoping for a Latin American pope but wasn’t expecting Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, of whom he knew little. His surprise turned into delight as he learned more and more about the new successor of Peter.
“He is God’s answer to the prayers of the universal church and I am so glad to see in him a shepherd, a religious leader,” he said. “That is what the pope should be.”
“I read everything I can find about him,” he said, “and am really anxious to hear him speak in Spanish,” their shared language.
Capuchin Franciscan Father Paul Minchak told the Hawaii Catholic Herald he is “ecstatic” about the new pope.
“He is such a humble man and his main concern is reaching out to the poor,” he said. “He just exudes the beauty of St. Francis, of the Gospel.”
Father Minchak, who is pastor of Resurrection of the Lord Parish in Waipio, Oahu, said he originally assumed the new pope had taken the name of fellow Jesuit St. Francis Xavier, “another great saint,” but was elated to hear that it was St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of Father Minchak’s religious order.
The symbolic meaning of that choice speaks volumes, he said, “of humility and a love for the poor.”
Father Michael Scully, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Papaikou on the Big Island, is the only Jesuit in full-time parish work in Hawaii.
“Naturally, we share in the joy of the whole church and we are especially happy that one of our own was chosen,” he told the Hawaii Catholic Herald.
“He does simple things that are really meaningful,” Father Scully said, like hopping off the popemobile to greet a severely disabled man, a gesture that reminded him of the Gospel story of the paralyzed man carried by friends into the presence of Jesus.
Father Scully said it was odd enough to have a Jesuit cardinal, as members of the order are not supposed to aspire for higher office, although they should accept if asked. He believes the cardinal electors’ choice came through the intervention by the Holy Spirit.
“It is a good thing for the church and for the Jesuits,” he said.
Father Scully said that he is praying that Pope Francis’ leadership results in a “happy and holier church.”
