PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Read Catholic Diocese of Greensburg Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt’s full statement on the election of Pope Francis.

FULL STATEMENT:
With great joy and thanksgiving to God, we welcome the election of Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio as Pope Francis, the 265th successor to the first pope, the Apostle Peter.

The Holy Spirit, who has guided the Catholic Church through these two millennia, has once again guided the election of a new shepherd, the spiritual leader of nearly 1.2 billion Catholics in our world today.

Pope Francis faces many challenges around the globe, including the culture of death that Blessed Pope John Paul II fought, and the culture of secular relativism that Pope Benedict XVI so often addressed. Pope Francis has the holiness and wisdom to face these challenges and the others that haunt our world today.

Pope Francis also inherits the promise made by Christ to Peter: “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”

KDKA Radio’s Bill Rehkopf interviews Bishop Brandt: