Argentina’s Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope Francis I yesterday, becoming the first Latin American pontiff in a surprise decision that raised the prospect of a more open Catholic Church.
The 76-year-old moderate emerged smiling on to the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to the cry of “Habemus Papam!” (“We Have a Pope!”), as tens of thousands of people cheered, cried and applauded.
Francis called for “brotherhood” among the Church’s 1.2bn Catholics.
He said he felt as if cardinals had gone to “the other end of the world” to find him - and across the Atlantic Ocean in Buenos Aires celebrations erupted.
Francis also publicly thanked his predecessor Benedict XVI, who shocked the world by resigning last month in a move unseen for seven centuries.
The historic election after 85-year-old Benedict’s abrupt resignation last month was being followed around the world on live television as well as through social media and smartphone apps - this is the first-ever tweeted conclave.
The papal Twitter account @pontifex announced his name in Latin: “Habemus Papam Franciscum”.
Latin America has the highest number of Catholics in the world and there had been growing calls for the new pope to come from the southern hemisphere for the first time but Bergoglio was never considered one of the frontrunners.
Bergoglio is the first Jesuit to become pope.
Call to promote ‘peace and solidarity
The European Union yesterday offered its “sincere congratulations” to the newly-elected Pope Francis I of Argentina, urging him to promote peace, solidarity and human dignity in a rapidly-changing world. “On behalf of the European Union, we convey our sincere congratulations on your election,” EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said in a joint statement after Jorge Mario Bergoglio was named as the church’s first Latin American pontiff. In Washington, US President Barack Obama offered “warm wishes” on behalf of the American people to newly-elected Pope Francis I, hailing the Argentine as “the first pope from the Americas”.