Zadar, (IKA) – The President of the Croatian Conference of Bishops, Archbishop Želimir Puljić of Zadar, was interviewed during a special broadcast by Croatian Catholic Radio on the occasion of the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope.
Archbishop Puljić noted four significant aspects of this election: surprise, because Cardinal Bergoglio was not among those candidates mentioned frequently by the media; he is not from Europe, he is the first Jesuit in history to be elected Pope and his bearing. Archbishop Puljić had the impression that the Pope expressed great reverence and awe toward the office that he accepted. “I can only imagine how he felt when Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re asked him ‘Do you accept?’ After the election, the Pope went to put on his white papal vestments for the first time in the sacristy known as the Room of Tears,” said the archbishop.
The moment when Pope Francis nodded his head toward the people is considered particularly significant. In this way, he said: “I ask for your blessing, your prayer, that you commend me to God, and then I shall bless you.” “Here is the strength of the Church. Not in knowledge, not in power, but in humility, as Pope Benedict XVI manifested throughout his pontificate,” said Msgr. Puljić, touched by the Pope’s emphasis on support through prayer: “He showed that he cares about it. Several times in his brief address, he asked us to pray for him. This is truly a touching gesture. An Italian commentator said: ‘This is something revolutionary. We are not used to it.’ There is a protocol. It is known what should be said when the Pope appears, which prayers to recite. However, Pope Francis added something that was not stipulated but in this way he truly “captured” people. On the square, it was visible at that moment that people bowed their heads, while some looked heavenward. However, the majority bowed and in silence and devotion fulfilled his wish. We pray for you, Holy Father. Thank you for accepting because it is not easy to be Pope now,” said Archbishop Puljić, summarizing his impressions following the election of the Pope.
The archbishop agreed with the commentary of the Croatian Jesuit Mihaly Szentmartoni at the moment that the Pope was elected, who said that this is not an election. “This is the moment when the cardinals meet and attempt to figure out who it is. He has already been chosen. God has already chosen him. God already knows who he is, only we do not. The cardinals had to work in silence, solitude, composure and prayer in order to guess whom the Holy Spirit had chosen. Even the act of election is truly mysterious and mystical. Thank God that it is so. These days, the Sistine Chapel is the only place on the globe that is not on stage. Cameras did not enter there prior to the election. When the election began, they said ‘Everybody out!’ This is a message to the world in which everything is exposed. Today, there is no intimacy, privacy. The Sistine Chapel and the election of the Pope succeeded in preserving this. And this is a great message. The message is that the Holy Spirit does not act on the square or the street but in intimacy,” said the President of the Croatian Conference of Bishops. Archbishop Puljić had not personally met the new Pope as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires but he participated in a synod with him. “I knew him by sight, listened to his interventions. His interventions were intellectually noticed. It is a pleasant surprise. It is good that he is from another continent, and not bad that he is of Italian ancestry. It will be ‘easier’ for the Italians when someone comes to them of their own bloodline, as they say. We are all people. In Argentina, there are many Croats. It is possible that the Pope encountered them there. I am sure that he had the opportunity to meet with Croats. They will not be unknown to him,” concluded Archbishop Puljić’s in his interview on the election of the Successor of Peter for Croatian Catholic Radio