On the second day, the fifth ballot of the Papal Conclave of 2013 to elect the next Pontiff following Benedict XVI, the 265th Successor to St. Peter has been elected and the Catholic Church has a new leader today, March 13, according to the Vatican Radio.
Two-thirds majority of the Cardinal Electors were required to elect the next Pope, which occurred in an historic moment, as Papal Conclaves have been notoriously longer than this one.
After the white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel and the bells in St. Peter’s Square announced the next Pope, before the identity of the Holy Father is revealed, he was dressed in the Papal attire within the Room of Tears. The crowds in St. Peter's Square were silent as they awaited word of who the Pontiff would be.
“Habemus Papam” announced by French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who appeared between the red curtains of the central balcony on St Peter’s Basilica, proclaimed the famous Latin words that revealed the identity of the new Pontiff and the name that he has chosen; The Holy Father who will guide the faithful Catholics of the world is Cardinal Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pope Francis.
Popes change their name to signify a new life, new beginning, a new path as in Simon who became Peter of which the Catholic Church is built upon. No word on the Inauguration of Pope Francis I as Rome awaits the Catholic delegations worldwide to travel to the Vatican. The occasion was marked when Pope Francis blessed Rome and the world with his "Urbi et Orbi" blessing.
Sources: Radio Vatican and News. VA
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