Locals react to impact the new pope will have - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Locals react to impact the new pope will have

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  • Sunday, May 19 2013 1:22 PM EDT2013-05-19 17:22:27 GMT
    (AP)- It's all about the odds, and one lone ticket in Florida has beaten them all by matching each of the numbers drawn for the highest Powerball jackpot in history at an estimated $590.5 million, lottery
    (AP)- It's all about the odds, and one lone ticket in Florida has beaten them all by matching each of the numbers drawn for the highest Powerball jackpot in history at an estimated $590.5 million, lottery
  • Local NewsLocal News

  • Sunday, May 19 2013 1:22 PM EDT2013-05-19 17:22:27 GMT
    (AP)- It's all about the odds, and one lone ticket in Florida has beaten them all by matching each of the numbers drawn for the highest Powerball jackpot in history at an estimated $590.5 million, lottery
    (AP)- It's all about the odds, and one lone ticket in Florida has beaten them all by matching each of the numbers drawn for the highest Powerball jackpot in history at an estimated $590.5 million, lottery
  • Saturday, May 18 2013 6:50 PM EDT2013-05-18 22:50:35 GMT
    911 dispatchers confirm a stabbing has occurred at the Beckley Plaza on Friday. It happened around 5:30 p.m. Friday. No word on the victims and the conditions of the victims. The Beckley Police Department
    A man is being hailed a hero in Raleigh County. A tattoo parlor owner saved a pregnant woman Friday night when her ex-boyfriend tried to kill her and her baby inside of the Beckley Plaza mall.
  • Saturday, May 18 2013 10:21 AM EDT2013-05-18 14:21:10 GMT
    911 dispatchers confirm a "severe" ATV accident occurred in Fayette County on Cunard Road.  That is in the Gatewood area of the county. Dispatchers say the accident happened just before 10 p.m. Friday. Members
    911 dispatchers confirm a "severe" ATV accident occurred in Fayette County on Cunard Road.  That is in the Gatewood area of the county.
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS -

We are thousands of miles away from the conclave...but people in southern West Virginia say it's important to them who becomes the next Pope.

Father Chapin Engler of St. Charles Catholic Church in White Sulphur Springs said, "It affords me a lot of hope that we are going to have a new pope that will take us in a direction to evangelize the church and not just our own church but around the world."

He said right now is an exciting time to be a catholic because of the unknowns that lie ahead.

He said, "The leadership really determines which direction the boat is going to go. He is our captain so it is going to affect us tremendously and I am really excited."

The selection of the new pope means a lot to people who practice the Catholic religion, but people who are not Catholic also have opinions about it.

Bruce Hemthorn, a Christian, said, "The Vatican itself of course is an independent sovereign state and the pope has lots of influence politically as well as in a religious sense in Europe and really around the world."

And non-Catholics said the decision still has an impact on their lives.

Hemthorn said, "They do good work and they try to create peace and harmony among nations so the pope maybe not directly affects me but indirectly certainly."