FDNY Chaplain Praises Pope Pick

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.

Sister Jean Flannelly, who previously lived in Douglaston and worked at St. Anastasia Parish and is now executive director for mission at Mount Saint Vincent, also thought Bergoglio was a good choice.

"He's a Jesuit who brings a strong, strong spiritual dimension to the position," she said. "But I think he has to gather some good advisors. No one person can do this job."