“As you know, the duty of the conclave was to appoint a bishop of Rome, and it seems to me that my brother cardinals have chosen one who is from far away, but here I am”, Bergoglio told the crowd in his first appearence as Pope. Earlier, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the church’s most senior cardinal in the order of deacons, or the proto-deacon, announced “habemus papam” and spoke the name of the new pope chosen on the second day of deliberations among the assembled cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church.
But his words were barely audible to the throng gathered in St. Peter’s Square, and there was initial confusion over the identity of the new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. White smoke rose over the Sistine Chapel earlier Wednesday evening, heralding the election of the new pope after the 115 voting cardinals reached a decision on the 266th pontiff.
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