By TJ BurgonioPhilippine Daily Inquirer 12:27 pm | Thursday, March 14th, 2013 Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Thursday morning hailed the election of Argentine Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio as the new Pope, saying this brings the “promise of renewal’’ in the Catholic Church. “From the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica came an announcement of great joy: that Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio had been elected as Pope, and taken the name Francis. From the city to the world, the joyful news has been accompanied by prayer and goodwill born of new beginnings,’’ President Benigno Aquino III’s spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a statement. The President, together with the Filipinos, “joins all the Catholic faithful as they receive their new leader and meet his proclamation with a sense of boundless promise,’’ Lacierda said. “As the first pope from outside Europe in a millennium—the first pope from the Society of Jesus, and the first from Latin America—the election of Pope Francis brings with it the promise of renewal in the Catholic Church, as it strives to fulfill its mission here on earth,’’ he said. Lacierda aired the hope that this would inaugurate a pontificate that “will bear witness not only to the basic tenets of the Gospel, but will also serve as a voice for peace, justice, and charity in a world threatened by tension and armed conflict, poverty, uncertainty, and loss of confidence in institutions.’’ “This is not merely a time for all Catholics to come together. This is Read More …