These were the first photos taken of Pope Francis after he was elected. He was making his way toward the balcony of St .Peter's Square for his first greeting as pontiff.
He left the Sistine Chapel, where he had been only 24 hours before as a cardinal.
One hundred fifteen cardinals from all around the world participated in this conclave, the second in the 21st century.
“Extra Omnes.”
The doors closed on March 12, 2013, at 5:30 in the evening.
One of the people most familiar with what took place inside is Vatican correspondent, Gerard O'Connell, who recounts the event in his book, “The Election of Pope Francis.”
GERARD O'CONNELL
Author, “The Election of Pope Francis”
“He understood it at lunch time on March 13th, before they went into the fourth ballot. It was clear after the third ballot that bearing some extraordinary event, he was going to be Pope.”
The other candidates with the most votes were then Archbishop of Milan, Angelo Scola, and Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops.
A number of votes went to Italian Cardinals Bagnasco and Coccopalmerio; American Cardinals O'Malley and Dolan; Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana; Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga from Honduras; and Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.
By the end of it all, in the evening of March 13, after the fifth round of voting, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio had won at least 85 votes, more than two-thirds of the total, and he became Pope Francis.
GERARD O'CONNELL
Author, “The Election of Pope Francis”
“They knew that he was a holy man, they knew that he was a man very close to the poor. They knew that he was a man who was kind of a missionary pope.”
At 7:06 p.m., on March 13, the white smoke announced that a cardinal had been elected pope.
An hour later, they learned his name: Francis.
Habemus Papam…
qui sibi nomen imposuit, Francisce.
This was the roar of the crowd when he stepped out onto the balcony for his first greeting as Pope.
“Fratelli e sorelle, buona sera…”
And the rest is history.
JMB
TR: CT
