Throngs jamming St. Peter's Square in Vatican City roared with joy today, as Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio -- archbishop of Buenos Aires -- stepped into the balcony as the new pope and leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, the USA Today website reports today (March 13, 2013).
The crowd grew silent as Bergoglio, 76, recited the Lord's Prayer and a Hail Mary. "Let us pray for the whole world," he told the crowd.
He added, "I ask a favor: Before the bishop blesses the people, I want to ask you to ask the Lord to bless the bishop. Please pray in silence for me."
Bergoglio's papacy is one of firsts. He is the first Jesuit, first non-European, and first Latin American pope. He is also the first to take the pope name of Francis, for the saint devoted to the poor.
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