Avon Catholic: It's Time for An American Pope

Avon resident Kevin Driscoll, an Irish Catholic and Boston native, was hoping that fellow Bostonian Cardinal Sean O'Malley would be chosen as the new pope.

"I really hope that it's an American pope," Driscoll told Patch soon before the announcement. "I think the Catholic Church needs that. We're a huge part of the Catholic Church now and I think we've been overlooked in the past, but I think that it's time that we got an American pope and we move forward.... It's time for the Catholic church to move ahead and get into the 21st Century."

While an American wasn't named as Pope Benedict XVI's successor when white smoke went up at the Vatican Wednesday signifying a new pope, the Associated Press reports that the next pope will Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, 76, of Argentina, the first pope from the Americas and the first non-European pope. He will be known as Pope Francis.

"The Catholic Church needs some straightening out and hopefully we'll get a man in there who has the guts to stand up and take care of all these problems that we had in the church," said Driscoll, who attends the Church of Saint Ann on West Avon Road and lives on the Avon Old Farms School campus as a dean at the all-boys private school.

Driscoll said he wants the next pope to bring fresh ideas to the Church.

"I hope that they let priests get married," Driscoll said. "I hope they clear up all these horrible, horrible things that have happened with the children."

Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation in late February and Driscoll acknowledged the moment as historically significant because a pope hasn't stepped down in a long time.

"I think there's more to the pope stepping down than they'll let us know. I think he's probably very ill. It takes a lot of guts to step down, I've got to give the pope credit for stepping down," Driscoll said. "He realized it's just the time that he should step aside and put somebody in there who can handle all these types of tough situations that are going on in the Catholic church.

Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell told WTIC radio earlier this week that regardless of the cardinals' decision, charity will remain a cornerstone of Catholicism, both abroad and here in Connecticut.

"There's no other organization as prepared and as able to serve as many people in poor and in need," Mansell said to WTIC on Tuesday morning, citing the Catholic Church as the largest non-governmental provider of medical and educational services in the state and in the world.

The Catholic population has seen a decline in recent years in the state and New England.

According to data from the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, the number of Catholic adherents has fallen from 2000 to 2010 in every Connecticut county. And a Trinity College study conducted in 2009 showed the number of Catholics in New England dropping from 50 percent in 1990 to 36 percent in 2008.

The attached graph shows the rise and fall in the state's Catholic population.

What do you think of the choice for new pope and what would you like to see Pope Francis accomplish?