The newly elected Pope Francis (formerly known as opera lover and Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio) appears on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica on March 13, 2013 in Vatican City.

Pretty much the first thing that New York's Cardinal Egan shared about the new pointiff, the former Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires? That he loves opera.

Here's a quick side note to today's big news ...

Immediately after the announcement of the papal election result and the name the new pope had chosen, Brian Williams of NBC News asked New York's Cardinal Edward Egan about the new pontiff, Francis.

"Your Eminence?" Williams said.

"I know him very well. I like him very much," Egan replied. "He's the cardinal archbishop in Argentina and he is a wonderful man. I think he's about 70 years old. And I think you might be interested to know, Brian, that I sent him a couple of Metropolitan Opera recordings. He's a great follower of our opera here in New York and I always say, 'When are you going to come and stay with me? We'll see something in New York.' He's a wonderful gentleman."

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