MOSCOW. March 14 (Interfax) - Members of the Federation Council, the upper chamber of Russia's parliament, believe that newly elected Pope Francis, formerly Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, will center his efforts on implementing moderate reforms and enhancing the authority of the Roman Catholic Church among the faithful.
Valery Shnyakin, deputy chairman of the Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee, told Interfax on Thursday that the election of Jesuit Cardinal Bergoglio, who is of Italian descent, but was born in and lived in Argentina, is symbolic in many ways.
"It is symbolic that a representative of Latin America, where the absolute majority of the population is Catholic, has been selected to lead the Catholic Church. It shows that this region will be in the spotlight for the new pontiff," he said.
The name taken by the new pope is equally symbolic, Shnyakin said.
"Francis of Assisi is one of the saints held in high esteem both by the Catholics and the Christians in general. As the legend goes, St. Francis of Assisi performed scores of miracles, healing the blind, resurrecting the dead and treating people suffering from leprosy. But he is best known for his vow of poverty and transforming the idea of poverty into a positive lifestyle ideal in accordance with Jesus the Christ's testament," the Russian senator said.
The Catholic Church could undergo reforms under the new pope, he said.
"I mean moderate reforms based on the new pontiff's life principles, and he will center his key efforts on bolstering the authority of the church, which today is in crisis due to multiple financial scandals and allegations of child sex abuse crimes committed by Catholic priests," Shnyakin said.
Hopefully, the gap separating the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church will narrow under the new pontiff, he said.
"We would like this to happen because both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church face similar threats. Morality is on the decline in society," Shnyakin said.