Benedict XVI: German cardinal elected pope - World news - One year later: Remembering Pope John Paul II | NBC News Benedict XVI: German cardinal elected pope ‘I entrust myself to your prayers,’ he tells wildly cheering crowd Below: Advertise Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters Pope Benedict XVI greets the crowd in St. Peter's Square after being elected by the conclave of cardinals Tuesday. msnbc.com news services + - VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, a hard-line guardian of conservative doctrine, was elected the new pope Tuesday evening in the first conclave of the new millennium. He chose the name Pope Benedict XVI and called himself “a simple, humble worker.” An inauguration Mass for the new pope was set for Sunday at 10 a.m. local time, 4 a.m. ET. Benedict XVI decided to spend the night at the Vatican hotel where cardinals have been staying, and to dine with the cardinals. Ratzinger, the first German pope since the 11th century, emerged onto the balcony of St.

Peter’s Basilica, where he waved to a wildly cheering crowd of tens of thousands and gave his first blessing as the church's 265th pope. Other cardinals clad in their crimson robes came out on other balconies to watch him. “Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me — a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord,” he said. “I entrust myself to your prayers,” the pope said. “The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers,” the new pope said in his first public address . “I entrust myself to your prayers.” The crowd responded by chanting “Benedict! Benedict!” In Washington, President Bush offered his congratulations, calling the new pope "a man of great wisdom and knowledge." Advertise If the new pope was paying tribute to the last pontiff of that name, it could be interpreted as a bid to soften his image as the Vatican’s doctrinal hard-liner.

Benedict XV, who reigned from 1914 to 1922, was a moderate after Pius X, who had implemented a sharp crackdown against doctrinal “modernism.” Crackdown on ‘relativism’ On Monday, Ratzinger, who was the powerful dean of the College of Cardinals, used his homily at the Mass dedicated to electing the next pope to warn the faithful about tendencies that he considered dangers to the faith: sects, ideologies like Marxism, liberalism, atheism, agnosticism and relativism — the ideology that there are no absolute truths. “Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism,” he said, speaking in Italian. “We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism, which does not recognize anything as definitive and has as its highest value one’s own ego and one’s own desires.” His conservative actions include a letter of advice last year to U.S. bishops on denying communion to politicians who support abortion rights, which some observers viewed as a slam at then Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry. He also accused the media of fueling the priest sex abuse scandals of recent years.

"I am personally convinced," he one told an interviewer, "that the constant presence in the press of the sins of Catholic priests, especially in the U.S., is a planned campaign." And Sister Jeannine Gramick, a nun whom he ordered to stop ministering to gays and lesbians in the United States, called his election "devastating" for those who believe the Catholic Church needs to be more tolerant. Disciplined church dissidents Ratzinger served John Paul II since 1981 as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In that position, he has disciplined church dissidents and upheld church policy against attempts by liberals for reforms. He turned 78 on Saturday. The new pope had gone into the conclave with the most buzz among two dozen leading candidates. He had impressed many faithful with his stirring homily at the funeral of John Paul II, who died April 2 at age 84. Ratzinger is the oldest elected since Clement XII, who was chosen in 1730 at 78 but was three months older than Ratzinger.

Cardinals had faced a choice over whether to seek a younger, dynamic pastor and communicator — perhaps from Latin America or elsewhere in the developing world where the church is growing. Bells ringing from the Vatican earlier confirmed that cardinals had reached a decision and that, along with white smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney, caused crowds in St. Peter's Square to chant, “Viva il Papa!” or “Long live the pope!” The square quickly filled as thousands of people began streaming in as word of the decision spread. The conclave of 115 cardinals lasted for two days, and no conclave in the past century had lasted more than five days. The election that made John Paul II pope in October 1978 took eight ballots over three days. Confusing signals, quick election White smoke poured from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel and the bells of St. Peter’s pealed at 6:04 p.m. (12:04 p.m. ET) to announce the conclave had produced a pope. Flag-waving pilgrims in St.

Peter’s Square chanted: “Viva il Papa!” or “Long live the pope!” The bells rang after a confusing smoke signal that Vatican Radio initially suggested was black but then declared was too difficult to call. White smoke is used to announce a pope’s election to the world. It was one of the fastest elections in the past century: Pope Pius XII was elected in 1939 in three ballots on one day, while Pope John Paul I was elected in 1978 in four ballots in one day. The new pope was elected after either four or five ballots over two days. “It’s only been 24 hours, surprising how fast he was elected,” Vatican Radio said. The timing, more than an hour before the end of the afternoon session, indicated that the pontiff may have been chosen on the fourth ballot, although it was not immediately known. Voting began Monday night with a single ballot, and there were two ballots to be held Tuesday morning and afternoon. The cardinals took an oath of secrecy, forbidding them to divulge how they voted. Under conclave rules, a winner needed two-thirds support, or 77 votes from the 115 cardinal electors.

Challenges ahead Ratzinger succeeds a pope who gained extraordinary popularity over a 26-year pontificate, history’s third-longest papacy. Millions mourned him around the world in a tribute to his charisma. While John Paul, a Pole, was elected to challenge the communist system in place in eastern Europe in 1978, Benedict faces new issues: the need for dialogue with Islam, the divisions between the wealthy north and the poor south as well as problems within his own church. These include the priest sex-abuse scandals that have cost the church millions in settlements in the United States and elsewhere; coping with a chronic shortage of priests and nuns in the West; and halting the stream of people leaving a church indifferent to teachings they no longer find relevant. Under John Paul, the church’s central authority grew, often to dismay of bishops and rank-and-file Catholics around the world. Pope John XXIII was 77 when he was elected pope in 1958 and viewed as a transitional figure, but he called the Second Vatican Council that revolutionized the church from within and opened up its dialogue with non-Catholics.

Benedict will have to decide whether to keep up the kind of foreign travel that was a hallmark of John Paul’s papacy, with his 104 pilgrimages abroad. Germany trip likely He may already be locked into one — to his home country: the mid-August Catholic youth day gathering in Cologne, Germany. John Paul had agreed to visit and organizers have already spent millions of dollars in preparations. Navarro-Valls said he expected Benedict XVI would attend. “It seems obvious,” Navarro-Valls told RAI television, noting that young people in the crowd had already started chanting “Benedict XVI” the way they chanted “Giovanni Paolo,” John Paul’s name in Italian. He added that he hadn’t discussed it with the new pope but that it seemed likely, since the event was in the pope’s homeland. “With the new Holy Father, we can be assured of continuity with his predecessor and of a personality who will lead the church with great responsibility before God,” said Heiner Koch, the prelate in charge of the event. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

BBC ON THIS DAY | 19 | 2005: Ratzinger is elected as new Pope About This Site | Text Only 2005: Ratzinger is elected as new Pope Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been elected as the Pope - the head of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. Taking the name Pope Benedict XVI, the 78-year-old German appeared on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica. His arrival was greeted by loud cheers from the many thousands of pilgrims who had packed St Peter's Square as news of his election spread across Rome. He was chosen on the third round of votes by the 115 cardinals meeting to select Pope John Paul II's successor. Benedict XVI is elected Pope | World History Project Benedict XVI is elected Pope Benedict XVI was elected Pope at the age of 78. He is the oldest person to have been elected Pope since Pope Clement XII (1730–40). He had served longer as a cardinal than any Pope since Benedict XIII (1724–30). He is the ninth German Pope, the eighth having been the Dutch-German Pope Adrian VI (1522–23) from Utrecht.

The last Pope named Benedict was Benedict XV, an Italian who reigned from 1914 to 1922, during World War I (1914–18). Born in 1927 in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany, Ratzinger had a distinguished career as a university theologian before being appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising by Pope Paul VI (1963–78). Shortly afterwards, he was made a cardinal in the consistory of 27 June 1977. He was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by Pope John Paul II in 1981 and was also assigned the honorific title of the cardinal bishop of Velletri-Segni on 5 April 1993. In 1998, he was elected sub-dean of the College of Cardinals. And on 30 November 2002, he was elected dean, taking, as is customary, the title of Cardinal bishop of the suburbicarian diocese of Ostia.

He was the first Dean of the College elected Pope since Paul IV (1555–59) and the first cardinal bishop elected Pope since Pius VIII (1829–30). Even before becoming Pope, Ratzinger was one of the most influential men in the Roman Curia, and was a close associate of John Paul II. As Dean of the College of Cardinals, he presided over the funeral of John Paul II and over the Mass immediately preceding the 2005 conclave in which he was elected. During the service, he called on the assembled cardinals to hold fast to the doctrine of the faith. He was the public face of the church in the sede vacante period, although, technically, he ranked below the Camerlengo in administrative authority during that time. Like his predecessor, Benedict XVI affirms traditional Catholic doctrine. In addition to his native German, Benedict XVI fluently speaks Italian, French, English, Spanish, and Latin, and also has a knowledge of Portuguese. He can read Ancient Greek and biblical Hebrew. He has stated that his first foreign language is French. He is a member of a large number of academies, such as the French Académie des sciences morales et politiques.

He plays the piano and has a preference for Mozart and Bach. Source: Wikipedia Added by: Kevin Rogers VATICAN CITY - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, a hard-line guardian of conservative doctrine, was elected the new pope Tuesday evening in the first conclave of the new millennium. He chose the name Pope Benedict XVI and called himself “a simple, humble worker.” An inauguration Mass for the new pope was set for Sunday at 10 a.m. local time, 4 a.m. ET. Benedict XVI decided to spend the night at the Vatican hotel where cardinals have been staying, and to dine with the cardinals. Ratzinger, the first German pope since the 11th century, emerged onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, where he waved to a wildly cheering crowd of tens of thousands and gave his first blessing as the church's 265th pope. Other cardinals clad in their crimson robes came out on other balconies to watch him. “Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me — a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord,” he said. “I entrust myself to your prayers,” the pope said.

“The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers,” the new pope said in his first public address. “I entrust myself to your prayers.” The crowd responded by chanting “Benedict! Benedict!” In Washington, President Bush offered his congratulations, calling the new pope "a man of great wisdom and knowledge." If the new pope was paying tribute to the last pontiff of that name, it could be interpreted as a bid to soften his image as the Vatican’s doctrinal hard-liner. Benedict XV, who reigned from 1914 to 1922, was a moderate after Pius X, who had implemented a sharp crackdown against doctrinal “modernism.” Source: msnbc.com news services Added by: Kevin Rogers Ordained 29 June 1951. Elected Archbishop of Munich, 24 March 1977. Made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI, 27 June 1977.

In 1981, Ratzinger was named Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the organization which until 1965 had been called the Holy Office of the Inquisition, making him successor to the Grand Inquisitor. A prominent and learned theologian within the church, his chief role as Prefect was to produce the church's official interpretation of scripture; as such, he is seen as more conservative within the church, especially when compared with the more "liberal" Pope John Paul II -- again, liberal within the context of the Catholic church. Even so, Ratzinger was considered a likely successor to the papacy during Pope John Paul II's declining years. Despite mild contention in that pope's last days from Nigerian cardinal Francis Arinze and Cláudio Hummes of São Paulo, Ratzinger was elected quickly after only two rounds of voting -- hardly 24 hours after the conclave of cardinals first convened. He was officially elected Pope on 19 April 2005, choosing the name Benedict XVI.

He succeeds in name Pope Benedict XV, pontiff from 1914-22, and in nationality Pope Victor II, pontiff from 1055-57, making him the first German pope in nearly a thousand years. Cardinals elect Pope Francis, Argentinean Jesuit Jorge Mario Bergoglio | National Catholic Reporter Search Cardinals elect Pope Francis, Argentinean Jesuit Jorge Mario Bergoglio Pope Francis addresses the world for the first time Wednesday from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected the 266th Roman Catholic pontiff. (CNS/Paul Haring) Pope Francis appears for the first time Wednesday on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected the 266th Roman Catholic pontiff. (CNS/Paul Haring) Cardinals appear on a side balcony of St. Peter's Basilica as Pope Francis makes his first appearance Wednesday at the Vatican. At far left is U.S. Cardinal Roger Mahony, former archbishop of Los Angeles.

(CNS/Paul Haring) A girl reacts after the name of the new pope is announced Wednesday in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. (CNS/Paul Haring) Vatican City Jorge Mario Bergoglio, an Argentinean Jesuit who is the first in his order and the first from Latin America to hold the see of Peter, has been elected the 266th bishop of Rome and leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. Appearing on a balcony of St. Peter's Basilica about an hour and 10 minutes after white smoke from a chimney above the Sistine Chapel first signaled his election Wednesday, Bergoglio was introduced by his birth name with the traditional proclamation of the Latin phrase "Habemus papam" ("We have a pope"). Then came pronouncement of the choice of his papal name: Francis. He is the first pontiff to choose the name. Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said the new pope chose the name in honor of the 12th-century St. Francis of Assisi, known for his simple lifestyle and dedication to the works of mercy.

Bergoglio's election came on the fifth ballot and second day of voting among the 115 cardinals who participated in the secret election. It was a surprisingly quick conclusion to a conclave that seemed to have no clear front-runner among the cardinals. Get NCR in your inbox! Sign up for email alerts . At 76, Bergoglio is only two years younger than Joseph Ratzinger was when he was elected Pope Benedict XVI in April 2005. Bergoglio's, now Pope Francis', first word to a cheering crowd in an overflowing St. Peter's Square was "Buonasera," Italian for "Good evening." "You know the task of the conclave was to give Rome a bishop," the new pope continued, speaking Italian with a slight Spanish accent. "My brothers went to the end of the earth to get him." Francis then asked the crowd to join him in praying "for our emeritus bishop, Benedict XVI." Following the "Our Father," the "Ave Maria" and the "Glory Be" prayers in Italian, the Argentinean continued: "Now let's start working together, walking together in the church of Rome, which is the first among churches.

This is part of the governance of love, of trust." "Let us pray for each other, let us pray for the entire world because there is great brotherhood in the world," Francis continued. "I hope the path that I am about to take now and my father will help me to be fruitful for the evangelization of this beautiful city." Before giving the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing to those in the crowd, overwhelmingly Italian, the Argentinean asked "for a favor." "Before the bishop blesses his people, he asks that you pray to the Lord to bless me, the prayer of the people for the blessing of their bishop," he said, bowing his head and clasping his hands. A 15-second silence lasted in the crowded, reported to contain 100,000 people. "Brothers and sisters, thanks for the welcome," Francis said before heading back into the basilica. "Tomorrow I will pray that Mary safeguard Rome. Good night. Good rest." Widely reported to be the second-place candidate after Ratzinger in the conclave held after the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005, Bergoglio is known for a simple lifestyle and for dedication to social justice.

After becoming archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, he moved out of the traditional archbishop's palace, preferring instead to live in an apartment. He also cooks his own meals and does not use the services of a chauffeur, instead riding the bus. Francis is the first non-European pope in more 1,200 years. The last was the Syrian Gregory III, who died in 741. Worldwide reaction to the election of Bergoglio, also the first of a pontiff from the southern hemisphere, was immediate. "Perhaps for the first time in modern times, the global outlook of the church is reflected at the highest level of the church," Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, a fellow Jesuit who leads the order's Eastern African province, told NCR in an email. "I want to believe that considering the humble and down-to-earth background of Pope Francis ... the church is in capable hands -- not just the pope's alone, but the hands of the entire people of God across the globe," said Orobator, who is also a moral theologian at Nairobi's Hekima College.

"Francis's first gesture of asking the people to pray to God for him may signal the beginning of a more authentic and humble recognition of the priesthood of the people of God and the responsibility we all bear for the church of God in the world." People had gathered in St. Peter's Square in sometimes-pouring rain throughout the evening Wednesday, keeping their eyes trained on two screens showing images of the Sistine Chapel's chimney, looking for signs of smoke. There was a collective gasp and pause in the crowd as smoke of indistinguishable color billowed from the chimney -- black would mean no consensus on the pope; white, his election. Cheers began to rise across the square and rose higher and louder as the bell of St. Peter's began to peal, confirming the election of a new pope. Within moments, people were running through puddles and rain, trying to make it to the square for announcement of the pontiff. Traffic along the streets surrounding the square came to a standstill. Vatican gendarmes stationed around the square's iconic colonnades directed people to specific gates to control the flow of the crowd. Inside an hour, people had filled about a half-block of the street leading into the square.

As the waiting for the new pope continued, screams of "Viva il papa," Italian for "Long live the pope," echoed every few minutes. Many waved national flags -- among them South Korea, Brazil, the United States, the Philippines, the Holy See, Argentina, Chile and Spain -- under their umbrellas. Cheers rose across the crowd again as lights went on at the window of a balcony at St. Peter's, where the pope was expected. When the doors opened and French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran appeared to the make the official proclamation, many screamed in excitement. The Vatican said in a brief press briefing Wednesday night that shortly after his election, the new pope had phoned retired Pope Benedict. Pope Francis is expected to have Mass with the cardinals who elected him at 5 p.m. Thursday Rome time, then Mass with all of the cardinals at 11 a.m. Friday. On Saturday, he will host an audience for the more than 6,000 journalists who came from around the world to cover the conclave. On Sunday, he is schedule to lead the traditional Angelus prayer. He will inaugurate his papal ministry on Tuesday, the Feast of St.

Joseph, with a special Mass at 9:30 a.m. in St. Peter's Square. Hundreds of thousands, including dignitaries and political leaders from around the world, are expected to attend. Born in Buenos Aires in 1936, Bergoglio is the son of an Italian immigrant and railway worker from the region around Turin. He has four brothers and sisters. The future pope had originally planned to be a chemist, but in 1958 he instead entered the Society of Jesus and began to study for the priesthood. He spent much of his early career teaching literature, psychology and philosophy. From 1973 to 1979, he served as the Jesuit provincial in Argentina, then in 1980 became the rector of the seminary from which he had graduated. During what is commonly known as Argentina's "Dirty War," when a military junta ruled the country from 1976 to 1983, Bergoglio mandated that Jesuits continue to staff parishes and act as chaplains rather than moving into "base communities" and political activism. Some have claimed the future pope did not do enough then to protect church workers against the dictatorship.

Bergoglio was named auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992, then succeeded the ailing Cardinal Antonio Quarracino in 1998. Pope John Paul II made Bergoglio a cardinal in 2001, assigning him the Roman church named after the legendary Jesuit St. Robert Bellarmine. Bergoglio is a supporter of the social justice ethos of Latin American Catholicism, including a robust defense of the poor. "We live in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most yet reduced misery the least," Bergoglio said during a gathering of Latin American bishops in 2007. "The unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to Heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers." Yet he is also known as a staunch defender of the church's traditional sexual teachings, opposing abortion, same-sex marriage and contraception. In 2010, he said gay adoption is a form of discrimination against children, earning a public rebuke from Argentina's president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Bergoglio was also highly praised for his response to the 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires of a seven-story building housing the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association and the Delegation of the Argentine Jewish Association. In 2005, Rabbi Joseph Ehrenkranz of the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., praised Bergoglio's leadership. On the first night of his pontificate, Pope Francis is expected to join the cardinal electors at a special Vatican hotel where they have been staying during the conclave. [Joshua J. McElwee is an NCR staff writer. His email address is jmcelwee@ncronline.org. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/joshjmac . NCR senior correspondent John L. Allen Jr. and NCR editor Dennis Coday contributed to this report.] Advertisement About those 2005 and 2013 photos of the crowds in St. Peter’s Square - The Washington Post About those 2005 and 2013 photos of the crowds in St. Peter’s Square The inside track on Washington politics. Be the first to know about new stories from PowerPost.

Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published. You’ll receive free e-mail news updates each time a new story is published. You’re all set! Got it By Emi Kolawole By Emi Kolawole March 14, 2013 Follow @emikolawole There’s no question that technology has crept far more deeply into our everyday lives in the past eight years between the election of Pope Benedict XVI and that of his successor, Pope Francis. A composite image has been making its way around the Internet that appears to juxtapose images of the throng in St. Peter’s Square in 2005 during the announcement of Pope Benedict’s election with the audience present during that of Pope Francis. But here’s thing, the photos weren’t taken at those times. People fill Via Della Conciliazione boulevard about half a mile away from the facade of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican after Pope John Paul II's body was carried across the square into the Basilica for public viewing on April 4, 2005.

With tens of thousands of mourners outside hoping for a glimpse of the body, 12 pallbearers flanked by Swiss Guards carried the late pontiff's body on a crimson platform from the Sala Clementina, where it had lain in state since the previous day. (LUCA BRUNO/AP) Post photojournalist Nick Kirkpatrick did a little digging and found that the lower photo (shown below this paragraph), which features a sea of smartphones and tablets, was, indeed, taken during the announcement of Pope Francis’s election. But the top photo (shown above), which shows an audience with far fewer gadgets was taken during the funeral procession of Pope John Paul II — a very different mood and event type. There was no one addressing the crowd from the balcony, for example. So, the comparison isn’t quite accurate. Visitors take photos of Pope Francis as he speaks from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 13, 2013. Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who chose the name of Francis, is the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

(Michael Sohn/AP) The crowd reacts as German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger appears on the balcony of St.Peter's Cathedral as Pope Benedict XVI at the end of the second day of the conclave April 19, 2005. Ratzinger was elected the 265th pope. (Marco Di Lauro/GETTY IMAGES) The crowd reacts as German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger appears on the balcony of St.Peter's Cathedral as Pope Benedict XVI at the end of the second day of the conclave April 19, 2005 in Vatican City. Ratzinger was elected the 265th pope. (Marco Di Lauro/GETTY IMAGES) Smartphones were not, of course, as prevalent as they are today. A sea of iPhones in 2005 would have been impossible, given Apple didn’t introduce the first iPhone until 2007 . But people were still recording the moment in droves, and gadgets were then, as they are today, held high in the air.

Read more news and ideas on Innovations : Pope Francis elected as 266th Roman Catholic pontiff | World news | The Guardian Pope Francis Pope Francis elected as 266th Roman Catholic pontiff Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio takes name of Francis after accepting his election as 266th head of Roman Catholic church John Hooper in Vatican City Wednesday 13 March 2013 16.43 EDT First published on Wednesday 13 March 2013 16.43 EDT Close This article is 3 years old The cardinals of the Roman Catholic church on Wednesday chose as their new pope a man from almost "the end of the world" – the first non-European to be elected for almost 1,300 years and the first-ever member of the Jesuit order. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, becomes Pope Francis – the first pontiff to take that name – an early indication perhaps of a reign he hopes will be marked by inspirational preaching and evangelisation. But the cardinals' choice risked running into immediate controversy over the new pope's role in Argentina's troubled history.

In his book, El Silencio, a prominent Argentinian journalist alleged that he connived in the abduction of two Jesuit priests by the military junta in the so-called "dirty war". He denies the accusation. The new pope appeared on the balcony over the entrance to St Peter's basilica more than an hour after white smoke poured from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel, signalling that the cardinals had made their choice. Dressed in his new white robes, the bespectacled Argentinian prelate looked pensive and perhaps a little intimidated as he looked out at the sea of jubilant humanity in the square. The former Cardinal Bergoglio was not among the front-runners. But he obtained more votes than any other candidate except former pope Benedict in the 2005 conclave, and – although his election came as a surprise – he was certainly not a rank outsider. According to some accounts, he was not chosen eight years ago because he begged his fellow cardinals not to continue voting for him. As he uttered his first words – "buona sera" – and the cheering died away, he told the crowd that his peers had been tasked with finding a bishop of Rome.

"And it seems that they went almost to the end of the world to find him. But we're here," he said with a smile. After a prayer for his predecessor, Benedict XVI, the new pope invited the faithful in the square to "pray for the entire world". He added: "I hope that this path for the church will be one fruitful for evangelisation." Faced with a sharp choice between those cardinals who wanted a thorough shake-up of the Vatican and those who did not, it appeared the electors in the Sistine Chapel opted for compromise. Bergoglio has a reputation for both political canniness and reforming drive. Among the tests facing the 76-year-old will be the awesome managerial demands of the job. The fumata bianca – the white smoke signal that marks the successful conclusion of a conclave – arrived after five ballots at the end of the second day of voting. The smoke that poured out of the comignolo, the copper and steel tube on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, was greeted with cries of delight and applause from the crowd below.

Soon after, the bells of St Peter's rang out, confirming that a new pope had taken over the spiritual leadership of the world's 1.2 billion baptised Catholics. Inside the Sistine Chapel after the final vote was cast, the most junior of the cardinals, James Harvey, a former prefect of the papal household, called in the secretary of the college of cardinals, Monsignor Lorenzo Baldisseri, and the master of papal liturgical ceremonies, Monsignor Guido Marini, to witness the new pope's acceptance of one of the most daunting jobs on Earth. The most senior of the electors, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, approached the pope-to-be and – in accordance with tradition – asked him in Latin: "Do you accept your canonical election as supreme pontiff?" Having obtained his consent, he will have asked: "By what name do you wish to be called?" The master of ceremonies, acting as a notary, will then have summoned two of his staff to act as witnesses, and prepared the document that certifies the new pope's acceptance. Newly elected popes are taken to be robed in the Room of Tears, its name an indication of the reluctance with which most approach the task.

The last holder of the office, Benedict XVI, introduced a change in the ritual that allows the new pope to pray before he is announced to the world. Benedict abdicated on 28 February, saying that he was no longer able to cope with the burden of his office. He was the first pontiff to resign voluntarily since Celestine V in 1294.The world's Catholics will be looking to his successor to provide not only spiritual inspiration but also firm leadership. The new pope was chosen against a background of turbulence and strife unprecedented in modern times. He takes on the leadership of a church whose faithful have been shocked by a proliferation of clerical sex abuse scandals throughout the rich world and dismayed by events in and around the Vatican. The day for the 115 cardinal-electors began at about 6.30am local time in the Casa Santa Marta, their simple but comfortable – and highly protected – residence in the walled city state. After breakfast, they made their way to the Apostolic Palace, the home of the popes, for morning mass in the Pauline Chapel. By about 9.30am, they had settled themselves into the Sistine Chapel for prayers and the resumption of voting.

Benedict's startling decision to resign came after years of mounting tension and discreet but venomous infighting in the Roman Curia, the central administration of the Catholic church. Last year, some of the pope's correspondence, pointing to bitter rivalries and maladministration – or worse – in the Vatican was published in book form. Benedict's butler, Paolo Gabriele, was tried and imprisoned for leaking the documents, but the journalist to whom the papers were passed has said that his source was part of a much broader network of disaffected Vatican employees and officials. Gabriele's arrest coincided with a renewed controversy over the Vatican bank, whose chairman was summarily dismissed last May. The scandals – and a string of controversies over the pope's own declarations – distracted attention from what was expected to be the central theme of his papacy. Benedict came to the leadership of the Catholic church as the pope who would begin the process of re-evangelising an increasingly secular western world. That too will be an important challenge for his successor. In the approach to the conclave several cardinals said they wanted a great pastor for the world's biggest Christian denomination. No indication of how or why the new pope was chosen was expected to emerge.

On Tuesday, before the start of the conclave, the cardinal-electors took an oath of secrecy, as had those Vatican employees and officials involved in the election. Additional precautions included a sweep of the Sistine Chapel to ensure that no listening devices had been planted inside and the use of electronic jamming techniques. German Cardinal Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI - Wikinews, the free news source German Cardinal Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI From Wikinews, the free news source you can write! Tuesday, April 19, 2005 The Sistine Chapel White smoke appeared today at 5.50 p.m. local time over the Sistine Chapel in Rome - the first sign that a new Pope had been elected by the Conclave of Cardinals . A few minutes later, the bells of St. Peter's Basilica began ringing, confirming the election. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger had been selected as the successor to Pope John Paul II as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church , and will be known as Pope Benedict XVI . The conclave of 115 cardinals started the process of electing a new Pope on Monday, April 18.

However, it has taken two days for the required two thirds majority to be reached. The new Pope appeared to the public within an hour of the first announcement. He appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and delivered a short address to the crowd in Italian. Tens of thousands of people were in St Peter's Square to observe the results of the election. The election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger follows the death of Pope John Paul II on April 2. Biography Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger (born April 16, 1927) is pope of the Roman Catholic Church . In 1981 Cardinal Ratzinger was appointed prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly known as the Office of the Holy Inquisition) by Pope John Paul II, made a Cardinal Bishop of the episcopal see of Velletri-Segni in 1993, and was elected Dean of the College of Cardinals in 2002, becoming titular bishop of Ostia. He was one of the most influential men in the Vatican and a close associate of the late Pope John Paul II.

He presided over the funeral of John Paul II and also presided over the Conclave in 2005. During the sede vacante , he was the highest-ranking official in the Catholic Church. On January 2, 2005, Time quoted unnamed Vatican sources as saying that Ratzinger was a front runner to succeed John Paul II should the Pope die or become too ill to continue as Pontiff. His see, Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia , has traditionally been an antechamber to the Papal seat. However it is important to note that Ratzinger's election to the Papal office was by no means certain. In conclaves men who are considered papabile often are not elected to office. At times men considered certain to win the election did not win. This is expressed in the saying, "He who enters the conclave as Pope leaves as a Cardinal." Ratzinger was considered to be Pope John Paul II's "right hand man" and also one of his closest friends and confidants, and during the Pope's final illness, he carried out many of the Pope's functions as leader of the Catholic Church.

Ratzinger has repeatedly stated he would like to retire to a Bavarian village and dedicate himself to writing books, but more recently, he told friends he was ready to "accept any charge God placed on him." After the death of John Paul II on April 2, 2005 Ratzinger ceased functioning as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Ratzinger speaks ten languages and has received seven honorary doctorate degrees. He is an accomplished pianist with a preference for Mozart. Ratzinger was a member of the Hitler Youth during his teenage years, as was required by German law at the time. His father was very strongly anti-Nazi, and Ratzinger himself later deserted the German army. He is the eighth German pope. In April, 2005, he was identified as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine [1] .

Related news The Tablet Francis – a Pope of firsts 8 April 2013, 9:00 Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who took the name Pope Francis, became the first Argentine pope and the first from outside Europe for over 1,000 years when he was elected pope on Wednesday 13 March 2013. This is how The Tablet reported the moment the white smoke appeared. There was a long delay between the white smoke gushing from the comignolo, the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, before the world learned the name of the new pope. During this time it is likely that he was praying. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran appeared first on the balcony to announce, in Latin, that a pope had been elected. He said that it was Cardinal Bergoglio and that he would take the name Francis. Though most people were caught by surprise, Pope Francis was greeted with huge cheers from thousands of people from across the world when he stepped onto the Vatican balcony a few moments later. His first words, which he spoke in Italian, were 'Brothers and Sisters, Good Evening'.

Once white smoke appeared from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel the crowd erupted into cheers and soon after, the great bells of St Peter's Basilica began to toll. Dozens of people from all over the world waved flags and banners suddenly appeared from the crowd that read 'Viva il papa', 'Long live the Pope!' The rain that had drenched the square stopped momentarily. It took five ballots for the new pope to gain the two-thirds plus one majority needed to become elected. Thousands of tourists and pilgrims, huddled beneath umbrellas, braved the rain to stand and await news from the conclave. A number of those in the square are in Rome on pre-planned pilgrimages which coincided with the papal interregnum. The new Pope is widely believed to have been a runner-up in the last conclave. He has been a member of the Congregation of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, the Congregation for the Clergy, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. He has also been on the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and he is a former Jesuit provincial in Argentina.

Pope Francis was born in Buenos Aires and he has also lived in Germany and Spain. His parents were working-class Italians, who had five children. His father worked on the railways in Argentina. In 2005 Pope Benedict XVI was elected after just four ballots while John Paul II, widely considered a surprise pope, was elected after eight ballots in 1978.

Question: Which Pope was elected in 2005?
Answer: Pope Benedict XVI