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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By Kelsey Borza, Reporter - email

  • Local NewsLocal News

  • Monday, May 20 2013 1:03 PM EDT2013-05-20 17:03:15 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.

  • Monday, May 20 2013 11:14 AM EDT2013-05-20 15:14:20 GMT
    The McDowell County Sheriff's Department is working on a Murder case in the Iaeger area.Officials said that it happened on Sunday, May 19 and that deputies worked throughout the night and the morning.
    The McDowell County Sheriff's Department is working on a Murder case in the Iaeger area.Officials said that it happened on Sunday, May 19 and that deputies worked throughout the night and the morning.

  • Monday, May 20 2013 10:25 AM EDT2013-05-20 14:25:35 GMT
    A stop in interventional cardiac stent surgery at Raleigh General Hospital is over, according to a release from the hospital.  On Thursday, May 16 the hospital put a stop to cardiac stent surgery.  A
    A stop in interventional cardiac stent surgery at Raleigh General Hospital is over, according to a release from the hospital.
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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."