"This is really a pleasant spiritual surprise and a gracious surprise bringing about some things which we will be able to interpret in 10 years' time. This is also an act of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the work of cardinals who have reacted expeditiously in one of the shortest procedures for the election of the pope," the Zadar Archbishop said at a news conference, underscoring that "the message is great".

Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who was elected the new pontiff on Wednesday, was born in Buenos Aires in 1936 and he will remain the shepherd of the poor and of those deprived of their rights, Puljic said praising the newly-elected pontiff for his simplicity and humbleness.

Puljic also expressed his delight at the fact that the new pope came from a continent that was not Europe.

The election of the new pope proves that in the Catholic Church there are no foreigners and no divisions along the lines of continents.

"The fact that Pope Francis is a Jesuit is a great sign and award to the Jesuit order," the Croatian Catholic dignitary said.

Cardinal Vinko Puljic, the Archbishop of Sarajevo, who participated in this week's conclave in the Vatican City, also welcomed the election of the Argentinian cardinal as the new pontiff and his decision to take the name of Francis as a message to the Franciscan order and the whole Church regarding his wish to be humble and simple.