Italian bishops were so sure that the new pope was Italian that they sent their congratulations to Cardinal Scola after seeing the white smoke rise. According to the Miami Herald on March 13, 2013, Cardinal Scola was rumored as the conclave favorite before the new pope was voted into his position.
This announcement of the wrong pope spread as churches in Milan started celebrating an Italian pope. According to Fox News live on Thursday, the media in Italy also got a hold of the news that the bishops announced that Cardinal Scola was the new pope.
Once they realized they had jumped the gun and Argentine Jorge Bergoglio was announced as the new pope, they quickly sent their congratulations to the new Pope Francis. Fox News said this is reminiscent to the time the 1948 American president was announced as “Dewey defeats Truman” when in fact it was the other way around. The media had jumped the gun. The Chicago Tribune printed this in their headlines, confusing quite a few folks.
Thankfully, this didn't make headline news around the world, but for a few minutes there, many thought the new pope was one of Italy's natives.
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