Local Latin Americans elated with pope selection

BOSTON (WHDH) -- Mass was read in Spanish at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston Wednesday evening to celebrate Pope Francis.

“We celebrate the new pope here in the church,” said Reverend Volmar Scaravelli.

There’s a local connection to the new pope. Reverend Volmar Scaravelli is a longtime friend who spoke highly of the pontiff Wednesday night, thrilled he was selected.

“Nice man. I knew him in Buenos Aires I worked with him for years,” Reverend Scaravelli said. “This change is very important.”

“We never thought we were going to have a pope for Latin America,” Armando Zapata said.

South Americans who live in the area were stunned by the news. Ricardo Mermet moved from Argentina to Massachusetts more than 40 years ago.

“My wife, she call me and said, ‘Ricardo, you got a new pope, Argentina pope,’” Mermet said. “I said, ‘Wow, I can’t believe that.’”

Champagne was even passed around at an Argentinian restaurant in Arlington.

“All Latinos identify with this pope and that’s very exciting. It is not Argentina. It is not South America. It’s all America,” said Armando Zapata.