Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the troubled Roman Catholic Church, the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years, and said he would take the name Francis.

“Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the troubled Roman Catholic Church, the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years, and said he would take the name Francis.

“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 he had been chosen 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 the crowd.

“The choice of Bergoglio, who becomes the first Latin American pope, was announced by French cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran with the Latin words ‘Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam’ (‘I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope.’)

“Francis becomes 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. Although a conservative, he is seen as a reformer and was not among the small group of frontrunners identified before the election.

“He has spoken out strongly against gay marriage, denouncing it in 2010 as “an attempt to destroy God’s plan”.

“Replacing Pope Benedict, who resigned last month, he also 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.

“Francis is the first non-European pope since Syrian born Gregory III in the eighth century, and the third successive non-Italian pontiff.

“CHEERING CROWDS

“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.

“Frontrunners 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.

“In brief remarks from St. Peter’s balcony, Francis said it seemed the cardinal electors ‘went to the end of the world’ to find him. He said the world should follow a path of love and fraternity and called for the crowd to pray for him.

“Bergoglio is the first Jesuit to become pope.”

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