VATICAN CITY (WKOW) -- Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina has been named the new pope.
115 cardinals in a papal conclave elected the new leader for the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on Wednesday.
Cardinal Bergoglio is the first ever pope from the Americas, the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium and the first Jesuit pope. He chose the name Pope Francis.
The 76-year-old was elected by his fellow cardinals on the fifth ballot, during the second day of the conclave to choose a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. He had reportedly finished second in the conclave eights years ago that named Benedict as pope.
Tens of thousands of people cheered the new pope from St. Peter's Square. The pontiff looked stunned as he waved to the crowd below -- asking for prayers for himself and for Pope Benedict.
Pope Francis is getting right to work. He will celebrate his first Mass as pope in the Sistine Chapel on Thursday and will be installed officially as pope on Tuesday, according to the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi.
U.S. Cardinal Timothy Dolan said Pope Francis will also visit his predecessor Benedict XVI at the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo south of Rome Thursday morning.
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VATICAN CITY (WKOW) -- White smoke is rising from the Sistine Chapel, signaling the Catholic church has chosen a new pope.
115 cardinals in a papal conclave have elected a new leader for the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
The new pope is expected to appear on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica within an hour, after a church official announces "Habemus Papum" -- "We have a pope" -- and gives the name of the new pontiff in Latin.
The conclave was called after Pope Benedict XVI resigned last month, throwing the church into turmoil and exposing deep divisions among cardinals tasked with finding a manager to clean up a corrupt Vatican bureaucracy as well as a pastor who can revive Catholicism in a time of growing secularism.
Stay with WKOW.com for the latest on this story.
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VATICAN CITY (WKOW) -- The result of the latest vote by Cardinals is expected to be seen before 8:00 p.m. Vatican City time, as Catholics world-wide watch the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel. White smoke coming from the chimney would indicate Cardinals have elected a new pope, while black smoke would indicate they did not make a definitive choice.
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VATICAN CITY (WKOW) - Black smoke is billowing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, meaning Roman Catholic cardinals have not elected a pope in their second or third rounds of balloting.
Cardinals voted twice Wednesday in Michelangelo's famed frescoed chapel after a first vote Tuesday in a conclave to elect a successor to Benedict XVI, who stunned the Catholic world last month by becoming the first pope in 600 years to resign.
The cardinals held the first day of the conclave Tuesday deeply divided over the problems of the church and who best among them could fix them following the stunning resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.
Courtesy: Vatican
