Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina elected pope

By Giulia Segreti and Guy Dinmore in Vatican City

Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, a 76-year-old Jesuit intellectual, greeted the world as Pope Francis I on Wednesday evening, the first pope from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium.

The new pontiff, successor to Benedict XVI, gained the required two-thirds majority on the fifth ballot on Wednesday, a day after the 115 voting cardinals had gathered to begin their conclave. Cardinal Bergoglio had been considered a long shot for the post.

Thousands of followers gathering in the rain of St Peter’s Square had waited excitedly for the 266th pope to appear in the balcony above them. “Long live the pope!” people in the crowd chanted.

The unexpected choice of the little known Cardinal Bergoglio appeared to shock the crowd, which initially greeted the announcement with near silence. But when he finally appeared above them dressed in papal white robes and looking almost as surprised himself, the crowd roared its approval, a few blue and white Argentine flags on display.

The white smoke appeared at 7.06pm local time. Pope Francis appeared on the balcony to the cheering crowd 76 minutes later.

Speaking softly in Italian, Pope Francis said “As you know cardinals were picking a bishop for Rome. It seems like my brother cardinals have picked him from the end of the world, but here we are.” 

He then offered a prayer for Benedict XVI and asked the crowd to pray for him before saying the Lord’s Prayer.

He then continued: “Let’s start this path, of brotherhood, love and faith among us. Let’s always pray for each other, and for the whole world, for it to have a great brotherhood.

“I wish that this path of the Church may be fruitful for the evangelisation. Before the blessing I ask you a favour: pray to God to pray for me.”

Cardinal Bergoglio was born on December 17, 1936, the son of a raiway engineer. He studied chemical engineering before joining the Jesuits in 1958, being ordained 11 years later. He became Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992, Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1997 and a cardinal in 2001.

He is known for moderninsing the Argentine church, that had been among the most conservative in south America. 

Joseph Ratzinger was elected at the fourth round on the second day of the conclave in 2005. Benedict, now formally known as pope emeritus following his shock abdication last month, was said to be following events on television from his temporary home in the papal residence of Castel Gandolfo outside Rome.

Pope Francis was presented to the faithful from the central loggia of Saint Peter’s basilica by Jean Louis Tauran, the top-ranking cardinal deacon, with the traditional formula of Habemus Papam – “We have a Pope” – followed by the first name in Latin and the papal name.

The pope then made his first Urbi et Orbi blessing. John Paul II, in October 1978, was the first pope to add some personal words as he addressed the crowd below.

In 2005 some 45 minutes passed between the white smoke and the announcement of the election of Benedict XVI to the square. In this time, the pontiff has to wear his new papal clothes in the Room of Tears, return to the Sistine Chapel for prayers and the reading of the Gospel and receive the respects of each one of the voting cardinals. 

Even though no clear favourite had emerged ahead of the beginning of the conclave, the bookmakers had expected a relatively short process.

“This is a genius move [by the cardinals]. It means no Italian, no European, not a man from the Vatican Curia but [a man who is open] to the the third world,” said Marco politi, a Vatican reporte

Cardinal Bergoglio believes in contraception to prevent the spread of disease and has said he would make reforming the Curia, the Vatican’s administrative apparatus, a priority.

The Vatican will now look to its new head to modernise the church’s central administration, tackle the clerical sex abuse scandal and combat the rising tide of secularism. 

Before the conclave started, Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the promotion of the new evangelisation, said the next pontiff should be both a “pastor” and a “man of government”.

Vatican observers had generally portrayed the conclave as a test of strength between “old guard” supporters of the Curia – the Vatican’s Italian-dominated administration at the heart of power struggles and corruption that weakened Benedict XVI – and “outsiders” who would be capable of implementing reforms while defending the church from the twin threats of advancing secularism and the debilitating legacy of years of clerical sexual abuse scandals.

Italy’s Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan, had been regarded as the most likely winner, respected for his humble origins and his distance from the Curia. Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana had also been named by bookmakers as a possible pope, while Cardinal Bergoglio’s name had been rarely mentioned. 

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013.