What The Election Of Pope Francis Means For The Church

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio makes Christianity compelling. Luke Coppen, editor of The Catholic Herald, analyses what his election means for the Church.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has looked like an obvious choice for pope since he reportedly came second in the balloting to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 2005 - but he kept such a low profile that few commentators saw him as a leading candidate in 2013.

Clearly he enjoyed the deep respect of the world's cardinals, who must have voted for him in significant numbers from the very first ballot. He was elected last night on the fifth vote, suggesting a massive groundswell of support in the College of Cardinals.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio Is The New Pope

Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina has been elected to lead the Roman Catholic Church, a prelate announced to huge crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square.

He took the name Pope Francis 1 and he will be the 266th Pope. He is 76 years old.

Cardinals elected Bergoglio on just the second day of a secret conclave to find a successor to Pope Benedict, who abdicated unexpectedly last month.

He will be the first Latin-American Pope