Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina has been elected pope. He is the first Latin-American pontiff ever to be elected. He is also the first pope to come from the order of the Jesuits. Upon being elected he took the name Pope Francis I. He allegedly took second place in the 2005 vote that resulted in the election of Benedict XVI. He was greeted on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica by a vast crowd that gave him a warm welcome into his new role as leader of the Catholic religion.
“As you know, the duty of the conclave was to appoint a bishop of Rome, and it seems to me that my brother cardinals went to fetch him at the end of the world,” he said. “But here I am.”
Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, Archbishop of Glasgow and President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland said he was surprised the Conclave was “so quick” to make a decision. “Given the pre-Conclave situation, and the absence of a single dominant figure, I can only see this quick result as God’s work. As soon as I heard I went into my chapel and offered a grateful and joyful prayer of thanksgiving … Deo Gratias!” he said.
