Pope Francis Elected: Bells Ring Out In Los Altos

Sometime after 11 a.m., the phone rang at the Immaculate Heart Monastary of the Poor Clares in Los Altos Hills. And rang again. And again with the news: White smoke was rising from the conclave of cardinals.

The Poor Clares went to their church bells, ringing them 100 times, said Vicaress Sister Collette. "We are very happy."

"As soon as we were sure the smoke was white," bells pealed out joyfully for at least five minutes, at St. Simon Catholic Parish in south Los Altos,  said Pastor Warwick James. He had been sitting at his computer when the alert popped on his screen. Soon, Father James' living room was full of pastoral staff, several ministers, a few elderly parishioners who happened to be on campus, and the custodian, all waiting patiently and watching his television for the new pontiff to come out on the balcony. 

Then he appeared: Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, 76, the son of an Italian railway worker, was the new pope. 

He is the first Jesuit and the first South American to become pontiff.

He has taken the name Francis, another first. Both of those events have particular resonance in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, which is home to three Roman Catholic churches and three Roman Catholic institutions.

"It's a happy surprise," said Brother Tom Koller, of the El Retiro, the Jesuit Retreat Center of Los Altos. Koller is a man of measured words. When he learned there was white smoke issuing from the specially installed conclave chimney, he called the Poor Clares, a cloistered order who live without televisions.

The Poor Clares viewed the new pontiff's choice of name as particularly meaningful. "We are poor Clares, but we call St. Francis of Assisi our founder, as well as St. Clare," said the Sister Collette. "When we speak of St. Francis, we call him, 'Our Holy Father, Francis,'" she said. When they referred to Pope Benedict, they called him 'Our Holy Father, Benedict." Now, according to their conventions, the new Pope will also be called, "Our Holy Father, Francis," she said, describing herself as "very happy."

And at Maryknoll Residence, now a retirement residence but once a seminary that launched missionaries to China and Latin America, Director Robert Carleton, said "We were pleased to see a new Holy Father outside of the European belt."

Carleton and the 30 or so retired brothers who were missionaries overseas see a need for a perspective that comes from Latin America, which he said is "46 percent of the Catholics, and overlooked and needy in many ways." 

The London Guardian and National Catholic Reporter described Bergoglio as a Jesuit intellectual who travels by bus, cooks his own meals and lives simply. After being appointed cardinal in 2001, "Bergoglio persuaded hundreds of Argentinians not to fly to Rome to celebrate with him but instead to give the money they would have spent on plane tickets to the poor," the Guardian said.

 "We like that," Carleton said. While there are two Francises who are significant in the Catholic Church—Francis Xavier, a Jesuit, and Francis of Asisi, Carleton said they can tell by the new pontiff's style, "it is obvious that he takes his name from St. Francis of Assisi."

He hopes Pope Francis will decentralize decision-making. "Much of Europe dominated the issues they were interested in and it didn’t have much to do with our country here."  

Pope Francis originally planned to be a chemist, but began studying for the priesthood in 1958, according to the National Catholic Reporter.

In addition to his advocacy for the poor, Bergoglio believes in contraception to prevent the spread of disease, faces no questions over abuse scandals and would reform the Vatican Curia, according to the Guardian.

He also strongly opposed Argentina's decision to legalize gay marriage, saying children should be raised by a father and a mother.

Shortly after Francis addressed the crowd at St. Peter's Square, the Vatican issued a tweet via its papal Twitter account. It said in Latin, "HABEMUS PAPAM FRANCISCUM," which translates roughly as "We have Pope Francis," according to the Los Angeles Times.

"We were all humbled when he asked the people to bless him," said Pastor James. "It indicated the kind of simplicity and the holiness of the man. It was most unusual."

 James also identifies with the new pontiff's origins. "I am from the Southern Hemisphere myself, though South Africa." 

"Clearly, the selection that he is from the Americas, shows that the cardinals appreciate very much the importance of the church from the New World," he added. "I am delighted that he was is a Jesuit. And the wonderful name of 'Francis' speaks well of his commitment to Christ's very clear lessons to us that he came for poor and the marginalized."

The timing took the drama out of plans for St. Simon's School's mock conclave for Thursday, which the school had organized with students from seven other diocesan schools. The idea was for students to "go through some of the rtiuals we are aware of—the swearing in, and the voting." It would go on as planned, however, Pastor James said.

For a month now, since Pope Benedict retired, said Sister Collette, the Poor Clares have not been able to say their customary short invocation for the Pope that precedes their celebration of the Divine Office, which they recite six times a day and once in the middle of the night. 

Shortly before the 1 p.m. Divine Office, they began were finally able to do so, once more.

"Protect in your divine heart, our Holy Father the Pope. Be his light, his strength and his solace."

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