Jorge Mario Bergoglio of
Argentina was elected in a surprise choice to be the new
leader of the troubled Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, taking the name
Francis I and becoming the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300
years.
Pope Francis, 76, appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica
just over an hour after white smoke poured from a chimney on the roof of the
Sistine Chapel to signal 115 cardinal electors had chosen him to lead the
world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.
"Pray for me," the new pontiff, dressed in the white robes of a pope for the
first time, urged a crowd of tens of thousands of people waiting in the square
below.
The choice of Bergoglio, who is the first Latin American and first Jesuit
pope, was announced by French cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran with the Latin words
"Habemus Papam" ("We have a pope.")
Francis has became the 266th pontiff in the Church's 2,000-year history at a
time of great crisis, with the church under fire over a child sex abuse scandal
and torn by infighting in the Vatican bureaucracy.
Although a conservative theologically, Francis is known for his concern for
the poor and is expected to bring a radical change of style to the Church
leadership, indicated by his choice for the first time of the name of St Francis
of Assisi, who died in 1226 after living a life of poverty and
simplicity.
He immediately showed the difference from his predecessor Benedict, an aloof
theologian, with a gesture of humility, asking the waiting crowd to bless him
before he blessed them.
Bergoglio shunned the papal limousine after his appearance on the balcony and
chose to take a shuttle bus with other cardinals back to the Vatican residence
where they are staying, for an evening meal.
Bergoglio is known as a humble man who leads an austere and sober life
without ostentation, travelling by public transport and living in a small
apartment outside Buenos Aires.
He is willing to challenge powerful interests and is deeply concerned about
the social inequalities in
Argentina
and elsewhere in Latin America. He has had a sometimes difficult relationship
with President Cristina Fernandez and her late husband and predecessor Nestor
Kirchner.
Francis has spoken out strongly against gay marriage, denouncing it in 2010
as "an attempt to destroy God's plan".
ARGENTINES JUBILANT
Jubilant Argentines poured into churches, some crying and praying, after the
announcement at the Vatican. "This is a blessing for
Argentina,"
one woman shouted on a Buenos Aires street.
"I hope he changes all the luxury that exists in the Vatican, that he steers
the church in a more humble direction, something closer to the gospel," said
Jorge Andres Lobato, a 73-year-old retired state prosecutor.
The election was enthusiastically welcomed elsewhere in Latin America
too.
"We're happy because we have a new pope and because the choice of a Latin
American shows that the Church is opening, is now focused on the entire Church.
It's not just a church only focused on Europe," said Leonardo Steiner, general
secretary of the national conference of Brazilian bishops.
Francis was not among the small group of front runners identified before the
election. The Jesuit order to which he belongs was founded in the 16th century
to serve the pope. It is best known for its work in education and the
intellectual prowess of its members.
The monks at the convent of St. Francis in Assisi were overjoyed at the
election of Bergoglio and his decision to take the name Francis for a pontiff
for the first time.
"St. Francis still points to the path of humility and evangelical
simplicity," said the abbot, Father Mauro Gambetti.
Italian theologian Massimo Faggioli told Reuters: "I don't expect him to
change on doctrine, but he is a more pastoral person. It seems that this pope
will be more aware of what life is all about."
Faggioli, a professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, added:
"He will have more room to make his message heard than Benedict did. The papacy
needs to have an audience more open to listen to what the pope says. He is not
an outsider. He didn't present himself as a reformer with hatchet in
hand."
Bergoglio was born into a middle-class family of seven, his father an Italian
immigrant railway worker and his mother a housewife.
Replacing
Pope
Benedict, who resigned last month, he overturned one of the main
assumptions before the election, that the new pope would be relatively
young.
Bergoglio is the oldest of most of the possible candidates and was barely
mentioned in feverish speculation about the top contenders before the
conclave.
He is the first non-European pope since Syrian-born Gregory III in the eighth
century, and the third successive non-Italian pontiff.
The Vatican said his inaugural mass would be on March 19.
U.S. President
Barack
Obama said the election of Francis "speaks to the strength and
vitality of a region that is increasingly shaping our world."
"PRAY FOR BENEDICT"
In brief remarks from the balcony of St. Peter's, Francis called on the
faithful to pray for Benedict and said the Church was setting off on a "journey
of fraternity, of love, of trust".
It seemed the cardinal electors "went to the end of the world" to find him,
he said.
The Vatican said Francis would visit Benedict soon at his temporary home in
the summer papal residence outside Rome.
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 tens of thousands in the square cheered even more loudly when Francis
appeared, the first pontiff to take that name. "Viva il Papa (pope)," they
chanted.
Front runners at the conclave had included Brazilian Odilo Scherer, and
Italy's Angelo Scola, who would have returned the papacy to traditional Italian
hands after 35 years of the German Benedict XVI and Polish John Paul
II.
The decision by cardinal electors sequestered in a secret conclave in the
Sistine Chapel came sooner than many experts expected because there were several
front runners before the vote to replace
Pope
Benedict.
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.
Francis will head a Church also shaken by rivalry from other churches, the
advance of secularism, especially in its European heartland, and allegations of
scandal at the Vatican bank.
The series of crises is thought to have contributed to Benedict's decision to
become the first pontiff in 600 years to abdicate.
RIVAL TO RATZINGER IN 2005
Bergoglio was a moderate rival candidate at the 2005 conclave to the
conservative Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who went on to become Benedict.
Italian media say he impressed cardinals in pre-conclave meetings where they
discussed the Church's problems.
Reserved and humble, Francis does not fit the profile of an active preacher
that many cardinals had previously said they were seeking. He studied chemistry
before joining the priesthood nearly a decade after losing a lung to respiratory
illness.
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.
The previous four popes were all elected within two or three days.
In preparatory meetings before the conclave, the cardinals seemed divided
between those who believe the new pontiff must be a strong manager to get the
dysfunctional bureaucracy under control and others who are looking more for a
proven pastoral figure to revitalize their faith across the globe.
Apart from Brazil's Scherer and Italy's Scola, a host of other candidates
from numerous nations had also been mentioned as potential popes - including
U.S. cardinals Timothy Dolan and Sean O'Malley, Canada's Marc Ouellet and
Argentina's Leonardo Sandri.
But the front runners' list never mentioned Bergoglio.
