Jorge Bergoglio, Jesuit from Argentina, elected Pope
Nicole Winfield | The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY — Cardinals elected Argentine Cardinal
Jorge Bergoglio pope -- pontiff from the Americas -- to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on
Wednesday, overcoming deep divisions to select the 266th pontiff in a remarkably fast
conclave.
Tens of thousands of people who braved cold rain to watch
the smokestack atop the Sistine Chapel jumped in joy when white smoke poured out a few minutes past
7 p.m., many shouting "Habemus Papam!" or "We have a pope!" — as the bells of St. Peter's Basilica
and churches across Rome pealed.
The pope, whose identity isn't yet known,
is due to emerge from the loggia overlooking St. Peter's Square to deliver his first words as the
bishop of Rome. The lag time was giving Romans plenty of time to get to St. Peter's, and a steady
stream of pilgrims and tourists were making their way.
Chants of "Long live
the pope!" arose from the throngs of faithful, many with tears in their eyes. Crowds went wild as
the Vatican and Italian military bands marched through the square and up the steps of the basilica,
followed by Swiss Guards in silver helmets and full regalia.
They played
the introduction to the Vatican and Italian anthems and the crowd, which numbered at least 50,000,
joined in, waving flags from countries around the world.
"I can't explain
how happy I am right down," said Ben Canete, a 32-year-old Filipino, jumping up and down in
excitement.
Elected on the fifth ballot, the pope was chosen in one of the
fastest conclaves in years, remarkable given there was no clear front-runner going into the vote
and that the church had been in turmoil following the upheaval unleashed by Pope Benedict XVI's
surprise resignation.
A winner must receive 77 votes, or two-thirds of
the 115, to be named pope.
For comparison's sake, Benedict was elected on
the fourth ballot in 2005 — but he was the clear front-runner going into the vote. Pope John Paul
II was elected on the eighth ballot in 1978 to become the first non-Italian pope in 455
years.
Patrizia Rizzo ran down the main boulevard to the piazza with her
two children as soon as she heard the news on the car radio. "I parked the car ... and dashed to the
square, she said. "It's so exciting, as Romans we had to come."
The
conclave played out against the backdrop of the first papal resignation in 600 years and revelations
of mismanagement, petty bickering, infighting and corruption in the Holy See bureaucracy. Those
revelations, exposed by the leaks of papal documents last year, had divided the College of Cardinals
into camps seeking a radical reform of the Holy See's governance and those defending the status
quo.
The names mentioned most often as "papabile" — a cardinal who has the
stuff of a pope — included Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan, an intellect in the vein
of Benedict but with a more outgoing personality, and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Canadian head of
the Vatican's important bishops' office who is also scholarly but reserved like
Benedict.
Brazilian Cardinal Odilo Scherer is liked by the Vatican
bureaucracy but not by all of his countrymen. And Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary has the backing of
European cardinals who have twice elected him as head of the European bishops'
conference.
On the more pastoral side is Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston,
the favorite of the Italian press, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the back-slapping, outgoing
archbishop of New York who has admitted himself that his Italian is pretty bad — a drawback for a
job that is conducted almost exclusively in the language.
The Vatican
spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi said it was a "good hypothesis" that the pope would be
installed next Tuesday, on the feast of St. Joseph, patron saint of the universal church. The
installation Mass is attended by heads of state from around the world, requiring at least a few
days' notice.
Benedict would not attend, he
said.
Thousands of people braved a chilly rain on Wednesday morning to
watch the 6-foot- (2-meter-) high copper chimney on the chapel roof for the smoke signals telling
them whether the cardinals had settled on a choice. Nuns recited the rosary, while children splashed
in puddles.
Unlike the confusion that reigned during the 2005 conclave,
the smoke this time around was clear: black during the first two sets of smoke signals, and then
clearly white on Wednesday night — thanks to special smoke flares akin to those used in soccer
matches or protests that were lit in the chapel ovens to accompany the smoke from the burned
ballot papers.
The Vatican on Wednesday divulged the secret recipe used:
potassium perchlorate, anthracene, which is a derivative of coal tar, and sulfur for the black
smoke; potassium chlorate, lactose and a pine resin for the white
smoke.
The chemicals were contained in five units of a cartridge that is
placed inside the stove of the Sistine Chapel. When activated, the five blocks ignite one after
another for about a minute apiece, creating the steady stream of smoke that accompanies the
natural smoke from the burned ballot papers.
Despite the great plumes of
smoke that poured out of the chimney, neither the Sistine frescoes nor the cardinals inside the
chapel suffered any smoke damage, Lombardi said.
