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Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio elected new pope

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Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina has been named the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church, taking the nickname of Pope Francis 1.

French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran made the announcement from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday night.

“Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam (I announce to you a great joy. We have a Pope),” the cardinal said, speaking in Latin.

After his election, Francis, 76, appeared on a balcony over the square, where tens of thousands of Catholics had been waiting for the new pope.

He asked the faithful to pray for him and for retired Pope Benedict XVI.

“I would like to thank you for your embrace,” said the new pope, dressed in white, adding, “My brother cardinals have chosen one who is from far away, but here I am.”

Francis, who had been the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, is the first non-European leader of the church in more than 1,000 years. He also became the 266th pontiff in the Church’s 2,000-year history.

Earlier, white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney, indicating that 115 cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church agreed on a new leader for world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.

The secret vote for the selection of the new pope got underway on Tuesday morning when 115 red-clad Roman Catholic cardinals secluded themselves between the chapel’s mediaeval walls.

Pope Francis replaces Pope Benedict XVI as the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholics.

On February 11, the 85-year old Benedict XVI announced his decision to step down, saying he was no longer able to carry out his duties due to his advanced age. He officially resigned on February 28, becoming the first pope to resign in 600 years.

Citing unnamed sources, a recent report by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, however, said that the pontiff decided to resign after an internal church probe informed him about a series of blackmails, grafts and underground gay sex in the Vatican.

The new pope faces a surmounting range of problems including sex abuse allegations, squabbling within the Vatican and the threat of secularism.

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