The Catholic Church has elected a
new pope: Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the 76-year-old Archbishop of
Buenos Aires who has chosen the papal name Francis.
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Pope Francis I waves to the crowd from the central balcony of
St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 13, 2013.
Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio who chose the name of Francis is the
266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. (AP / Gregorio Borgia)
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He has made history as the first
pope of the Americas; the first Jesuit; and the first non-European pope in more
than a millennium.
After announcing "Habemus
Papum" -- "We have a pope!" -- a cardinal on the balcony
of St. Peter's Basilica revealed the identity of the new leader of the Catholic
Church Wednesday evening. Appearing on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica,
Bergoglio said: “The purpose of the conclave was to appoint the bishop of Rome.
But it seems my brothers the cardinals went all the way to the end of the
world. I thank you for your welcome.”
"Brothers and sisters, thank
you so much for your welcome. Please pray for me and we will see each other
soon. Tomorrow I will go to pray to the Madonna that she may protect all of
Rome. Good evening, good night and rest well," he said.
The new pope was also quick to
send out a message on social media -- tweeting: "Inmensamente feliz de ser
el nuevo Papa, Francisco I" -- or “Immensely happy to be your new pope,
Francis I”.
Bergoglio is known for
modernizing an Argentinian church considered among the most conservative in
Latin America.
He was elected on the fifth
ballot in a remarkably quick conclave -- given that there was no clear
frontrunner going in. The winner had to receive 77 votes, or two-thirds of the
support of the 115 voting cardinals.
Bergoglio was greeted by tens of
thousands of faithful who have been waiting to witness the first new pontiff in
eight years, and the 266th pontiff in the 2,000-year history of the church.
“We’re going to see in this guy a
reformer. He’s going to take the church in a different direction,” CTV papal
commentator Father Michael Bechard said.
During the last papal conclave,
Bergoglio was considered to be the main challenger to then-Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI.
Bergoglio was born in Buenos
Aires in 1936. His father, an immigrant from Italy, was a railway worker.
He grew up with four siblings and
originally planned to become a chemist, but eventually decided to become a
priest and entered the Society of Jesus in 1958.
Bergoglio spent almost his entire
career in Argentina, teaching literature and philosophy in his early years and
serving as the country’s Jesuit provincial in the 1970s.
His views
He is known for his strict views
on morality -- having staunchly opposed same-sex marriage, contraception and
abortion. He has called adoption by gay parents a form of discrimination
against children -- a stance that was publicly criticized by Argentinian
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
Still, Bergoglio has shown
compassion for HIV and AIDS patients, visiting a hospice in 2001 to kiss and
wash the feet of some of those affected by the disease.
“This is a man who goes into the
shantytowns and cooks with the people," said Gerard O’Connell, CTV Vatican
specialist. "I think the world is going to discover a very new style of
being pope."
Pope Francis chose his name from
St. Francis of Assisi, who communicated and cared for animals.
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