Catholic Cardinals Elect New Pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio

Bergoglio, 76, will be called “Francis,” the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. Francis was born to Italian immigrant parents and was raised in the Argentine capital. He had been the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and in choosing him, the cardinals sent a powerful message that the future of the Church lies in the home to the bulk of the world’s Catholics, the Global South.

“I would like to thank you for your embrace,” said Francis from the white balcony on St. Peter’s Basilica. “My brother cardinals have chosen one who is from far away, but here I am.”

“Habemus papam!,” “We have a pope!,” and “Viva il Papa!,”members of the crowd shouted.

The Church has been facing with an array of challenges that intensified during his predecessor Benedict XVI’s time as Pope. These challenges include a priest shortage, growing competition from evangelical churches in the Southern Hemisphere, a sexual abuse crisis that has undermined the church’s moral authority in the West, and difficulties governing the Vatican itself. Benedict ended his eight-year papacy last month, announcing he was no longer up to the rigors of the job and becoming the first pontiff in 598 years to resign.

Before beginning the secret ballot voting in the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday, the cardinals swore an oath of secrecy in Latin, a rite designed to protect deliberations from outside scrutiny  and to protect cardinals from earthly influence as they seek divine guidance.

“The pope’s election is something substantially different from a political election,” Cardinal Schönborn told the NY TImes, stating that the Pope is not “the chief executive of a multinational company, but the spiritual head of a community of believers.”