It’s official: white smoke has risen from the Sistine Chapel. It was just announced minutes ago from the balcony to St. Peter’s Square that Argentina’s Roman Catholic Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been elected the new pope and will succeed Pope Benedict XVI. According to CNN, 76-year-old Jorge Mario Bergoglio will be the first pope from outside of Europe in modern times and that the former archbishop of Buenos Aires has chosen the name Francis.
Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the New Pope
The 266th Pope, Pope Francis I
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President Obama released a statement to the new pope, offering warm wishes, saying, “As the first pope from the Americas, his selection also speaks to the strength and vitality of a region that is increasingly shaping our world, and alongside millions of Hispanic Americans, those of us in the United States share the joy of this historic day.”
