VATICAN CITY, March 13, (Agencies): Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope Wednesday and chose the name Francis, becoming the first pontiff from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium.
Looking stunned, Francis shyly waved to the crowd of tens of thousands of people who gathered in St Peter’s Square, marveling that the cardinals needed to look to “the end of the earth” to find a bishop of Rome.
In choosing a 76-year-old pope, the cardinals clearly decided that they didn’t need a vigorous, young pope who would reign for decades but rather a seasoned, popular pastor who would draw followers to the faith. The cardinal electors overcame deep divisions to select the 266th pontiff in a remarkably fast, five-ballot conclave.
Francis asked for prayers for himself, and for retired Pope Benedict XVI, whose surprising resignation paved the way for the conclave that brought the first Jesuit to the papacy.
“Brothers and sisters, good evening,” Francis said to wild cheers in his first public remarks as pontiff. “You know that the work of the conclave is to give a bishop to Rome. It seems as if my brother cardinals went to find him from the end of the earth. Thank you for the welcome.”
Bergoglio had reportedly finished second in the 2005 conclave that produced Benedict — who last month became the first pope to resign in 600 years.
After announcing “Habemus Papam” — “We have a pope!” — a cardinal standing on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday revealed the identity of the new pontiff, using his Latin name.
The longtime archbishop of Buenos Aires has spent nearly his entire career at home in Argentina, overseeing churches and shoe-leather priests.
Like other Jesuit intellectuals, Bergoglio has focused on social outreach. Catholics are still buzzing over his speech last year accusing fellow church officials of hypocrisy for forgetting that Jesus Christ bathed lepers and ate with prostitutes.
Bergoglio has slowed a bit with age and is feeling the effects of having a lung removed due to infection when he was a teenager.
In a lifetime of teaching and leading priests in Latin America, which has the largest share of the world’s Catholics, Bergoglio has also shown a keen political sensibility as well as the kind of self-effacing humility that fellow cardinals value highly, according to his official biographer, Sergio Rubin.
He showed that humility on Wednesday, saying that before he blessed the crowd he wanted their prayers for him and bowed his head.
“Good night, and have a good rest,” he said before going back into the palace.
Tens of thousands of people who braved cold rain to watch the smokestack atop the Sistine Chapel jumped in joy when white smoke poured out a few minutes past 7 p.m., many shouting “Habemus Papam!” or “We have a pope!” — as the bells of St Peter’s Basilica and churches across Rome pealed.
They cheered again when the doors to the loggia opened, and again when Bergoglio’s name was announced.
“I can’t explain how happy I am right now,” said Ben Canete, a 32-year-old Filipino, jumping up and down in excitement.
Elected on the fifth ballot, Francis was chosen in one of the fastest conclaves in years, remarkable given there was no clear front-runner going into the vote and that the church had been in turmoil following the upheaval unleashed by Pope Benedict XVI’s surprise resignation.
A winner must receive 77 votes, or two-thirds of the 115, to be named pope.
For comparison’s sake, Benedict was elected on the fourth ballot in 2005 — but he was the clear front-runner going into the vote. Pope John Paul II was elected on the eighth ballot in 1978 to become the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
Patrizia Rizzo ran down the main boulevard to the piazza with her two children as soon as she heard the news on the car radio. “I parked the car ... and dashed to the square, she said. “It’s so exciting, as Romans we had to come.”
The Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said it was a “good hypothesis” that the pope would be installed next Tuesday, on the feast of St Joseph, patron saint of the universal church.
Unlike the confusion that reigned during the 2005 conclave, the smoke this time around has been clear: black during the first two rounds of burned ballots, and then a clear white on Wednesday night — thanks to special smoke flares akin to those used in soccer matches or protests that were lit in the chapel ovens.
The Vatican on Wednesday divulged the secret recipe used: potassium perchlorate, anthracene, which is a derivative of coal tar, and sulfur for the black smoke; potassium chlorate, lactose and a pine resin for the white smoke.
The chemicals are contained in five units of a cartridge that is placed inside the stove of the Sistine Chapel. When activated, the five blocks ignite one after another for about a minute apiece, creating the steady stream of smoke that accompanies the natural smoke from the burned ballot papers.
Despite the great plumes of smoke that poured out of the chimney, neither the Sistine frescoes nor the cardinals inside the chapel suffered any smoke damage, Lombardi said.
Installed
Pope Francis will be officially installed as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church on March 19, the Vatican said on Wednesday.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi also told a news conference that Francis had telephoned Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI shortly after his election, adding that he would visit him soon.
A papal inaugural mass is customarily attended by heads of state and governments.
Reactions
US President Barack Obama offered warm wishes to new Pope Francis I on Wednesday and said the choice of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina to ascend to the papacy speaks to the vitality of increasingly important Latin America.
Obama called the new pope “a champion of the poor and the most vulnerable among us.”
“As the first pope from the Americas, his selection also speaks to the strength and vitality of a region that is increasingly shaping our world, and alongside millions of Hispanic Americans, those of us in the United States share the joy of this historic day,” Obama said in a statement.
The European Union offered its “sincere congratulations” Wednesday to the newly-elected Pope Francis I of Argentina, urging him to promote peace, solidarity and human dignity in a rapidly changing world.
“On behalf of the European Union, we convey our sincere congratulations on your election,” EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said in a joint statement after Jorge Mario Bergoglio was named as the church’s first Latin American pontiff.
“We wish you a long and blessed Pontificate, which will allow your Holiness and the Catholic Church to defend and promote the fundamental values of peace, solidarity and human dignity,” they said.
“They are essential signposts in a world facing numerous challenges and undergoing deep change.
“We are convinced that your Holiness will continue to further with determination and strength the work of your predecessors by bringing the world’s people and religions closer together.”
Bergoglio, 76, was named as leader of some 1.2 billion Catholics after five rounds of voting in the Vatican — one more than when predecessor Benedict XVI was elected in 2005.
Bergoglio is the 266th pope in the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year history.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande also issued statements of congratulations.
Wednesday was “a momentous day for the 1.2 billion Catholics around the world,” Cameron said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he looked forward to cooperation with the Holy See under Pope Francis’ “wise leadership,” while European Union leaders Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso wished the new Catholic leader “a long and blessed pontificate.”
The atmosphere across Latin America was jubilant, with people bursting into tears and cheers on streets from Buenos Aires to Caracas, Venezuela.
“It’s incredible!” said Martha Ruiz, 60, who was weeping tears of emotion in the Argentine capital. She said she had been in many meetings with the cardinal and said, “He is a man who transmits great serenity.”
At the St. Francis of Assisi church in the colonial Old San Juan district in Puerto Rico, church secretary Antonia Veloz exchanged jubilant high-fives with Jose Antonio Cruz, a Franciscan friar.
“It’s a huge gift for all of Latin America. We waited 20 centuries. It was worth the wait,” said Cruz, wearing the brown cassock tied with a rope that is the signature of the Franciscan order.
Even in Communist Cuba, there was pride as church bells rang to celebrate the news.
On Twitter, the pope’s mothballed account was revived and read: “Habemus Papam Franciscum,” a reference to the cardinal’s new name: Pope Francis.
World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder congratulated Cardinal Jorge MarÌa Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, on his election as Pope Francis I on Wednesday.
“Pope Francis I is no stranger to us. In recent years he attended many inter-faith events co-organized by the WJC and our regional affiliate, the Latin American Jewish Congress,” he wrote, adding he had met him in Buenos Aires in 2008.
Lauder praised the new pope as “an experienced man, someone who is known for his open-mindedness...a man of dialogue, a man who is able to build bridges with other faiths”.
“We look forward to continuing the close relationship that has been fostered between the Catholic Church and the Jews over the past two decades.”
After praising the work of Popes John Paul and Benedict for Catholic-Jewish relations, Lauder said:
“We are convinced that new pontiff will continue on this path, that he will speak out against all forms of anti-Semitism both within and without the Catholic Church, that he will take action against clerics who deny or belittle the Holocaust, and that he will strengthen the Vatican’s relationship with Israel.”