Brazilian faithful are content with Argentinian pope

By Asher Levine and Caroline Stauffer

SAO PAULO, March 13 (Reuters) - With the expectation of having a Brazilian pope dashed this Wednesday, after the election of the Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis I, Brazilian Catholics received as a consolation prize the arrival of the first Latin American pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Archbishop Odilo Pedro Scherer of São Paulo was considered one of the favorites to succeed Benedict XVI, who resigned from the papacy last month.

"The Church kind of broke a taboo by choosing a Latino. We are facing a series of challenges now and I pray that the Pope will help bring our young people back to the Church," said Deise Cristina, 43, who goes to Mass every week at the Sé Cathedral in downtown São Paulo.

Sandra Aparecida Silva, a 38-year-old devout Catholic who attends Mass every day, praised the choice and suggested that perhaps it wasn't yet the right time for a Brazilian to ascend the Throne of Peter.

"I think it's very positive for the Church, because the new pope is humble, close to the people. I'm not sure if Dom Odilo would be the right person for what the Church needs now," she said.

"The fact that he is Latin American shows that the Church is decentralizing. That's good, and the fact that he wasn't among the favorites shows that it was truly God's choice."

The atmosphere around the most important church in Brazil's largest city, the world's largest Catholic country, was calm, showing that the election of the new pontiff did not mobilize the Catholic community of São Paulo.

"I like the fact that he's Latin American, it means we're being seen. But I don't identify as Catholic anymore. The Church doesn't reflect my life," said 23-year-old student Amanda Morais, who was strolling with her boyfriend in front of the cathedral.

Not even the rivalry between Brazilians and Argentinians prevented the faithful in Brazil from celebrating the election of a person from the neighboring country as pontiff.

"Football is one thing, and the Pope is another," said parking attendant Júlio Pereira in Brasília. "I think he (Francis I) will bring a series of good things."

At the headquarters of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, the best-known evangelical organization in Brazil, in the southern part of São Paulo, the choice of the new head of the Catholic Church was also a topic of discussion.

"I was hoping it would be a Brazilian. But maybe an Argentinian, a Latin American, could make the right changes, and I'm thinking of going back. My roots are in that (Catholic) Church," said Nair de Oliveres Souza, 54.

"POPE OF US ALL"

The fact that a Brazilian cardinal was not chosen for the highest position in the Catholic Church was also downplayed by Catholic leaders in Brazil.

"We see that the Holy Spirit, through the cardinals, wanted to choose someone who had this missionary, evangelizing spirit," said the archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Dom Orani João Tempesta, commenting on the choice of Pope Francis I, 76 years old.

"I always told everyone that... the new pope could be from Latin America, Europe, Africa, or Asia, and he would be the pope of us all... regardless of nationality or age."

In the Archdiocese of São Paulo, headed by Dom Odilo, the choice of Bento's new successor was also received with open arms, according to the archdiocese's spokesperson, Father Cido Pereira.

"Of course, this dream existed in the hearts of Brazilian Catholics, but we have said to the press many times: 'whoever comes will be received with much love and affection, because we have the perspective of faith.'"

(Additional reporting by Daniela Ades in São Paulo; Sérgio Spagnuolo in Rio de Janeiro; and Peter Murphy in Brasília)