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Argentina's Jorge Mario Bergoglio Elected New Pope

March 13, 2013

The conclave of cardinals has chosen Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina to be the next pope.

Bergoglio has chosen the name Francis. He is the first pope from the Americas.

Francis becomes the 266th pontiff in the Roman Catholic Church's 2,000-year history.

Francis, who is also the first Jesuit pope, has spent nearly his entire career at home in Argentina.

The 76-year-old reportedly got the second-most votes after Joseph Ratzinger, the last pope, in the 2005 papal election.

Francis is known for modernizing an Argentinian church that had been among the most conservative in Latin America.

The decision by 115 cardinal electors came after only five ballots, sooner than many expected due to the large number of possible front-runners identified before the vote to replace Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned in February.

The name of the new leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics was announced from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.

The secret conclave started on March 12 and four ballots were held on March 13.

Based on reporting by BBC, Reuters, and AP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/pope-selected/24927902.html

Copyright (c) 2013. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.