The world’s 1.2 billion Catholics have a new leader.
76 year old Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Buenos Aries in
Argentina has been named the 266th Pope. He’s the first Latin-American
Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, which is the longest running
institution in the history of mankind…almost 2,000 years old.
The new Pope was the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina before he was
elected to lead the Catholic church. He was ordained for the Jesuits on
Dec. 13, 1969. He has chosen the Papal name – Pope Francis 1. After just a day and a half of voting, the 115 cardinal electors locked
inside the ornate Sistine Chapel sent a cloud of white smoke up a
chimney and into the air over St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, signaling
a conclusive vote — at least 77 of them agreed on a man to succeed
Pope Benedict XVI.
