Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope on Wednesday to lead the Roman Catholic Church, a prelate announced to huge crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
He took the name Pope Francis, the cardinal said.
Pope Francis I is the first Latin American and the first Jesuit to be Pontiff. He is also the first Pope to be appointed out of Europe for 1,000 years.
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, as he was up until 13 March, tweeted moments after the announcement of his election by the Vatican conclave to say: “Immensely happy to be the new Pope, Francis I.”
An hour earlier, white smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney announced the new Pope’s election.
Cardinal Bergoglio replaces Benedict XVI, who resigned last month at the age of 85, saying he was not strong enough to lead the Church.
Pope Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, delivered his first blessing to a huge crowd in St Peter’s Square on Wednesday night, asking for the prayers of “all men and women of good will” to help him lead the Catholic Church.
Francis, speaking Italian with a slight Latin American accent, joked with the crowd before delivering his blessing, saying: “As you know the duty of the conclave is to give Rome a bishop. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world.”
The 115 cardinals have been in isolation since Tuesday afternoon, and held four inconclusive votes.
At least 77 of them, or two-thirds, would have had to vote for a single candidate for him to be elected Pope.
Before the conclave began, there was no clear frontrunner to replace Benedict.
Crowds with umbrellas massed in the square flying flags from around the world.
The Catholic News Agency said people were running through the streets of Rome, hoping to reach St Peter’s Square in time for the appearance of the new Pope.
FIRST JESUIT POPE
He is the first Jesuit to become pope.
The decision by 115 cardinal electors sequestered in a secret conclave in the Sistine Chapel came sooner than many experts expected because there were several frontrunners before the vote to replace Pope Benedict, who resigned in February.
The cardinals faced a thorny task in finding a leader capable of overcoming crises caused by priestly child abuse and a leak of secret papal documents that uncovered corruption and rivalry inside the Church government or Curia.
The wave of problems is thought to have contributed to Benedict’s decision to become the first pontiff in 600 years to abdicate.
Thousands of people sheltering from heavy rain under a sea of umbrellas had occupied the square all day to await the decision and the crowd swelled as soon as the white smoke emerged.
They cheered wildly and raced towards the basilica as the smoke billowed from a narrow makeshift chimney and St Peter’s bells rang.
The excited crowd cheered even more loudly when Francis appeared, the first pontiff to take that name. “Viva il Papa (pope)” they chanted.
“I wasn’t expecting it, but I’m absolutely delighted. It’s a very unique moment. There is a great sense of unity here. It’s great they have come to a decision about who will lead the Church,” said John Mcginley, a Scottish priest from Glasgow who traveled to see the conclave.
“It’s a great moment in history, something I can tell my mum,” said David Brasch, 30, from Brisbane Australia. “He’s got to get the child abuse under control, I don’t know how they’re going to do that. He’s got to unite 1.2 billion people.”
Bands from the Italian armed forces and the Vatican’s own Swiss guard army paraded in front of the basilica before the new pope appeared.
The secret conclave began on Tuesday night with a first ballot and four ballots were held on Wednesday. Francis obtained the required two thirds majority in the fifth ballot.
Following a split ballot when they were first shut away amid the chapel’s Renaissance splendor on Tuesday evening, the cardinal electors held a first full day of deliberations on Wednesday. Black smoke rose after the morning session to signal no decision.
The previous four popes were all elected within two or three days.
Seven ballots have been required on average over the last nine conclaves. Benedict was clear frontrunner in 2005 and elected after only four ballots.
Pundits did not see him as a favourite for the job of succeeding Benedict XVI and his advanced age – at 76, he is just two years younger than Benedict at the time of his election in 2005 – may surprise those expecting a younger man as the 266th pope.
However, he appeals to both Church conservatives and reformers, being seen as orthodox on sexual matters, for instance, but liberal on social justice.
“We live in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most yet reduced misery the least,” he was quoted as saying by the National Catholic Reporter at a gathering of Latin American bishops in 2007.
“The unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to Heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers.”