FALL RIVER, Mass. -
Some city residents were hopeful that Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley,
who spent nearly a decade as the bishop of the Fall River Diocese, would be
named the new pope.
"I thought it was great that (O'Malley) was even
thought of as a possibility," said Teny Berube of Fall River.
However it was not to be.
Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope Wednesday,
becoming the first pontiff from the Americas and the first from outside Europe
in more than a millennium. He chose the name Francis.
According to the Associated Press, Vatican analysts for
leading Italian newspapers had said O'Malley had emerged as one of the favorite
contenders for pope. The bearded, soft-spoken cardinal had even earned a
nickname: the cappuccino priest.
The 68-year-old O'Malley was the bishop of the Fall River
Diocese for nearly 10 years beginning in 1992, and has won praise for cleaning
up dioceses shattered by child sex abuse.
"As much as I thought he deserved to be pope, I didn't
think it was going to happen because I don't link the other cardinals are ready
for an American cardinal as pope," said Pauline Medeiros of Fall River.
"(O'Malley)'s very compassionate. He's well loved by
everybody. I just see had it been him, a lot of changes for the better. All we can
do now is wait and see what our new pope does and stand behind him," said
Janice Joseph of Fall River.
Some residents said O'Malley could be named pope -- in time.
