SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California Gov. Jerry Brown, who trained as a Jesuit, says he is pleased to see a Jesuit elected pope.
The former seminarian was asked his opinion about the selection of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (HOHR'-hay bur-GOHG'-lee-oh) of Argentina after an event Wednesday to promote solar power and wind energy.
Brown said he is glad Pope Francis is a Jesuit, and he hopes his Argentinian background might "give him a broader perspective." But he joked that he thought Jesuits were not allowed to consider higher office, so his opinion may not be valid.
As a young man, Brown spent two years studying to become a priest at a Jesuit seminary in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Novitiate of the Sacred Heart in Los Gatos.
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