JORGE MARIO BERGOGLIO EMERGES POPE

POPE BERGOGLIO FRANCIS 1

                                                                                                                                                                                       

The Conclave on Wednesday has elected a new pope, an Argentine whose real name is Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires. The new pope has adopted Pope Bergoglio Francis I. Pope Bergoglio Francis 1 becomes the first pontiff from the New World and the first non-European since the Middle Ages to have been elected pope. The new pope has spent almost his entire life and carrer in Argentina and the first pope from the Americas. He is also the first Jesuit and the first named Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, the humble friar who dedicated his life to helping the poor. It was learnt that the last non-European pope was Syria’s Gregory 111 during 731-41. Pope Bergoglio Francis 1, 76-year-old, came second on early ballots when Benedict XVI was elected in 2005. The new pope was elected on the fifth round of voting to replace the first pontiff to resign in 600 years.

It was revealed that only Benedict, John Paul 1 in 1978 and Pius X11 in 1939 were elected without delay. Latin America accounts for 40 per cent of the World’s Catholics but has never been adequately represented in the church leadership. Thus, Latin Americans were pleased with the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the new pope as there were jubilations across Buenos Aire, the capital of Argentina as drivers honked their horns and people waved tree leaves. “It’s a huge gift for all of Latin America. We waited 20 centuries. It was worth the wait”, said Jose Antonio Cruz, a Franciscan Friar at the St. Francis of Assisi Church in the Colonial old San Juan district in Puerto Rico.

Some Cardinals during the election of the pope

The white smoke signifying the emergence of a new  pope