Argentine Cardinal Becomes New Pope
According to a VNA reporter in Rome, early this morning (March 14) Vietnam time, at the Vatican, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76 years old from Argentina, was elected by the Cardinals' Conclave as the 266th Pope to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who had previously abdicated due to health reasons.
According to a VNA reporter in Rome, early this morning (March 14) Vietnam time, at the Vatican, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76 years old from Argentina, was elected by the Cardinals' Conclave as the 266th Pope to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who had previously abdicated due to health reasons.
Cardinal Bergoglio thus became the first non-European head of the Vatican in the 1,300-year history of the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, Argentine
Earlier, white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel signaling that the Cardinals had elected a new Pope to succeed Pope Benedict XVI.
At the same time, the bells of St. Peter's Basilica rang out. A cardinal announced to the crowd in St. Peter's Square that Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina had been elected the new Pope. The cardinal also said that Jorge Mario Bergoglio would take the name Pope Francis.
Pope Francis was born on December 17, 1936 into a middle-class family in the capital Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In 2001, he was created a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II and that same year was elected to the Synod of Bishops.
In 2005, Cardinal Bergoglio was predicted to be one of the possible successors to Pope John Paul II./.
According to (TTXVN) - DT
