Pope Francis I: Argentina’s Cardinal Jose Mario Bergoglio Elected 266th Leader Of The Roman Catholic Church; First Non-European, Jesuit Pontiff

Two days of papal enclave, where the faithful has gathered by the thousands waiting for the white smoke to come out of the Sistine Chapel, has finally concluded with the election of Pope Francis I.

The former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jose Mario Bergoglio is now the new pope of the 1.2 billion Catholics, considered as the 266th church leader and the 265th successor of St. Peter and the first non-European to hold the title of Supreme Pontiff and Bishop of Rome.

Bergoglio, member of the largest Catholic order, the Jesuits, is the first Pope from what is considered the new world. Born in Argentina to parents of Italian descent, the new world leader symbolizes the bridged gap between the Church’s European roots and its future, which lies according to many, far from the confines of the Holy See, in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Bergoglio’s selection of his chosen name, Francis, is taken from the patron saint of Italy, Saint Francis of Assissi.

After a day and a half of voting, the 115 cardinal electors locked inside the Sistine Chapel sent a cloud of white smoke up a chimney into the air over St. Peter’s Square, which signals a conclusive vote. The mandatory two-thirds plus one, or 77, of the cardinals has agreed on Bergoglio to succeed Pope Benedict XVI.

The thousands who have gathered at St. Peter’s Square, many of whom were rain-drenched or huddled underneath umbrellas, erupted in applause and cheers upon seeing the white plume from the Chapel.

Immediately after the white smoke has been spotted, signifying the election of a new pope, major news agencies have announced that it will take at least an hour for the name and person to be revealed. Within that time frame, Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran, the senior cardinal deacon of the Church, stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and announced in Latin the name of the man elected to lead the billion-strong members of the Catholic faith.

A correspondent for CBS News, Allen Pizzey, remarked that no pope in the Church’s 2,000-year history has ever been so bold as to claim the name of the original pontiff himself. There has not been a Peter II. Catholics believe Jesus Christ himself chose Peter to lead his church on earth.

Shortly after Tauran’s announcement, the new Holy Father appeared on the balcony, clad in his Papal vesture, to give his first blessing. The new Pope Francis I asked the thousands gathered below, in Italian, to give him their blessings in return.

By the time Pope Francis appeared to the thousands and was known to the world, he had already been a pope for an hour. He officially assumed the title while still inside the Sistine Chapel. After accepting the position before his fellow cardinals and informing them of his chosen papal name, Pope Francis I will have prayed in the Pauline chapel, across the Sistine Chapel, before greeting the crowd.

Pope Francis I will be the first man in the modern era from outside Europe to lead the Roman Catholic Church. He is known to have prized compassion, simplicity and humility so much that he gave up his chauffeur and regularly takes the bus to work.

Pope Francis I is now a namesake of St. Francis of Assissi. Saint Francies is recognized as a church leader and icon of the faith who has given up his riches and chose a life of poverty and prayer.

Pope Francis' official biographer has said that he has both keen political instincts and self-effacing humility and that his leadership will encourage a kind of shoe-leather evangelism within the church.