Pope Francis the First becomes the first Catholic Pope in 20 centuries to be chosen from South America. He is viewed as a reformer, an advocate for democracy and a pope who will be representing the poor.
By H. Nelson Goodson
March 13, 2013
Vatican City, Rome, Italy - On Wednesday, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, of Buenos Aires, Argentina became Pope Francis the First after being elected as the 266 non-European Pontiff of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis I became the first cardinal from South America to be selected as Pope in 20 centuries (nearly 1,300) and is seen as a reformer, an advocate for democracy and representing the poor.
Bergoglio received a total of 115 votes from cardinal electors, but only needed 77 votes to become pope. The Vatican pope twitter account tweeted "We have a pope, Francis."
French cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran announced from the Sistine Chapel at the St. Peter's Basilica Square the election of a new pope with the Latin words "Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam" ("I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope").
Pope Francis I appear before the people just over an hour after white smoke was first seen by Catholics at St. Peter's Square indicating a pope had been chosen. He told those waiting in the rain for hours, "Pray for Me."
Cardinal Bergoglio had one of his lungs removed due to an infection. He replaces his predecessor Benedict XVI, who resigned.
Bergoglio is the son of Italian parents that immigrated to Argentina. He became the first pope from Latin America and the first Jesuit pope in the 2,000 year history of the Catholic Church.
He will represent 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, including 40 percent of Latinos in the Catholic Church and 78 million Hispanic Catholics in the U.S.
As a reformer, Pope Francis is expected to appeal to a younger following and might get the church to move forward from the sex abuse scandal, lawsuits, internal Vatican bureaucracy infighting and financial crisis brought by years of coverup of its pedophile priests.
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