GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) _ More than 100 youngsters from preschool through the fifth grade celebrated the announcement of the new pope by vigorously ringing tiny bells they borrowed from music class at St. Michael's School in Grand Forks.
The children yelled a prayer in Italian, then shouted again and again in unison: ``Viva il Papa! Viva il Papa!''
The joyous outpouring came just moments after it was revealed in Vatican City that Pope Francis would be the new pontiff. The bells had also rung an hour earlier when the white smoke was first sighted coming from a Vatican chimney.
St. Michael's Rev. Gerard Braun says the children will remember this day for the rest of their lives.
