Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been
elected the 266th pope, making him the leader of the 1.2 billion-strong
Roman Catholic Church.
Francis I was elected on Wednesday on the second day of the conclave
in Vatican City, after receiving the required two-thirds majority, or at
least 77 votes of the 115 cardinal electors from 48 countries.
Francis's election was announced to the world and before hundreds of
thousands of cheering crowd gathered under the rain at St Peter's Square
in Rome.
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the protodeacon, made the announcement with the Latin words, Habemus papam, meaning "We have a pope".
As a sign of the election of a new pope, the Vatican also reactivated the Twitter account @Pontifex.
Francis I succeeds Benedict XVI, who resigned on February 28, the first pontiff to do so in 598 years.
Gahl described as "striking" the reaction to the new pope, which he
said is "way superior to what occured eight years ago, which may be a
surprise to some".
Before appearing in the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, white smoke,
which signified that a new pope had been elected, rose from chimney of
the Sistine Chapel, where the secret voting was held.
Continuous pealing of church bells then followed to confirm the election.
With the election of the new pope, Vatican now faces several key challenges.
Experts said the new pope's response to those will give us a
significant indication of what Catholics can expect from his time as the
head of the church.
One key priority is reaching out to his flock of 1.2 billion
Catholics and rebuilding the relationship between the Vatican and
churches around the globe.
"Much was made about whether the new pope would be one who focused on
pastoral care - speaking to the faithful around the world or would he
be one who tries to reform the Vatican," Jack Valero, director of the
Catholic Voices organisation, told Al Jazeera.
"In reality, he needs to do both."
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