© Peter Macdiarmid / GETTY IMAGESNewly elected Pope Francis I appears on the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica.
Appearing on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica a short time later, the new pope led a prayer for his predecessor, Benedict XVI.
"As you know, the duty of the conclave was to appoint a bishop of Rome, and it seems to me that my brother cardinals have chosen one who is from far away, but here I am," he told the crowd.
Earlier, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the church's most senior cardinal in the order of deacons, or the proto-deacon, announced "habemus papam" and spoke the name of the new pope, chosen on the second day of deliberations among the assembled cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church. But his words were barely audible to the throng gathered in St. Peter's Square, and there was initial confusion over the identity of the new leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
White smoke rose over the Sistine Chapel earlier Wednesday evening, heralding the election of the new pope after the 115 voting cardinals reached a decision on the 266th pontiff.
Crowds erupted in joy in St. Peter's Square and waited anxiously for the presentation of the then-undisclosed new pope.
The new pope was revealed to the world with a cry of "habemus papam" on the balcony after entering the so-called room of tears, donning white papal vestments and praying with the cardinals who elected him.
A throng of people ran up the Via della Conciliazione, the broad avenue leading to St. Peter's Square, holding umbrellas above their heads. A line of Polish nuns in white clasped each other's hands. Clusters of students jumped up and down, and roars of joy passed over the sea of people like waves.
"Huge emotions," said Claudio Santini, a lawyer from Rome who stood in a bowler hat in the square. "It's not important where the pope is from, just that he can travel into people's hearts."
A marching band and lines of Swiss Guards flying the white and yellow Vatican colors proceeded up the basilica steps in front of the cheering crowds.
Standing at attention in front of the basilica, the band played the Italian national anthem as many in the crowd sang along - a sign of the close relationship between the Vatican and Italy.
The papal seal on the Vatican Web site, which has been cloaked under an umbrella during the interregnum following Benedict's retirement, or sede vacante, now again displays the papal tiara under the title "Habemus Papam."
The white smoke, accompanied by the pealing of bells to eliminate any confusion, billowed from a flue on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, prompting the huge gathered in the square to erupt in applause and cheers.
The election came after two rounds of balloting in a morning session. The 115 voting cardinals reconvened about 4:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. Eastern) to vote up to two more times before either electing a new pope or adjourning for the day.
The election apparently came during the fifth round of balloting, after two rounds in a morning session and one in the early afternoon.
To be chosen, a candidate had to win the support of at least two-thirds of the 115 voting-age cardinals. Reported front-runners included Cardinals Angelo Scola of Italy, Marc Ouellet of Canada, and Odilo Pedro Scherer of Brazil.
Because no one bloc of cardinals - organized around passport or priorities - was large enough on its own to generate the requisite 77 votes, a candidate needed to consolidate support from a cross-section of electors. And if consensus remained elusive, the cardinals would look to the less familiar names in their college, which is what happened when John Paul II was chosen in 1978.
"Today is the fundamental day," Politi, a papal biographer and a veteran Vatican watcher with the newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano, said before the new pope was announced. "It is a referendum on Scola and whether the papacy will go back to an Italian or cross the Atlantic. For the first time there is a real possibility to have a pope from the Americas."
The Rev. Frederico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, told reporters the cardinals returned to their quarters at Casa Santa Marta shortly before noon, after two morning votes did not result in a papal selection.
During a lunch and rest break that lasted nearly five hours, they were permitted to smoke, drink wine and - more importantly given their ongoing deliberations - talk and visit one another's rooms.
"This is an extremely beautiful and intense moment," Lombardi told reporters after the morning session ended, emphasizing that no pope since Pius XII has been chosen before the fourth ballot. "This is very normal. This is not indicative of any division among the cardinals."
Benedict, now pope emeritus, spent much of Tuesday watching the pre-conclave proceedings on television and secluded in prayer, Lombardi said.
In St. Peter's Square, faithful from many nations sang hymns and glanced frequently toward the six-foot chimney. Some clothed themselves in their national flags, cheerleading for the cardinals from their countries.
"Having a Brazilian pope would be better than winning the World Cup," said Bruno Smania, a 15-year-old high school student from the Brazilian state of Parana, where Scherer spent part of his childhood. "It would be so important us, a sign that Brazil has really arrived."
The sense that the next pope could revitalize the faith in whatever country he hails from was widely held here. Adam Potter, a Pittsburgh-born seminarian and former assistant to Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, was camping out with a group of American and British student priests. He said he'd support any pope, but he hoped for an American.
"It's easy for Americans to feel disconnected from the church," Potter said. "But if we see [Cardinal Timothy] Dolan or Cardinal Sean O'Malley become pope, I know there would be a powerful feeling of joy in the United States, and I feel that's exactly what we need."
Conclaves are officially open-ended, but for nearly 200 years, none has lasted more than five days, and most have taken only two or three days. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Benedict XVI, was viewed as a strong front-runner before the last conclave, in 2005. This time around, no candidate has clearly claimed that title.
Instead, the focus was on a small group of papabili, or possible popes. In addition to the front-runners, other possibilities were Dolan of New York and O'Malley of Boston, either of whom, if elected, would have emerged as the first "superpower" pope.
Angela Troilo, 77, stood by the obelisk in the center of the square Wednesday morning, surrounded by puddles and looking up at the chimney. "The church used to do so much!" Troilo said, describing herself as a poor working woman who had been let down by her country and needed her church. "The Italian government is dead and buried. We need someone with energy, who can command!"
Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Nigeria, in an interview before the conclave, said the next pope, like any individual, "will come with his own baggage, his own background, competence, training, spiritual attitudes" - and will find that guiding the church can be more complicated than governing a single country.
"As a nation, the church is a universal association," Onaiyekan said. "The church is spread all over the world. . . . And each distinct part of the church, according to God's will, is headed by bishops whose job it is to face the realities around them and use them to defend the principles of the church and move the church forward."
Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster agreed. "The challenges are in some ways quite startling," he said. "There is such cultural change going on around the world, and such shifts of paradigm."
Before their first journey Tuesday to the Sistine Chapel, the cardinals celebrated a Mass dedicated to the pope's election. Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, delivered the homily, emphasizing the need for a good pastor and a strong commitment to evangelization.
"In the wake of this service of love toward the church and toward all of humanity, the last popes have been builders of so many good initiatives for people and for the international community, tirelessly promoting justice and peace," said Sodano, who is past 80 and therefore not eligible to participate in the conclave. "Let us pray that the future pope may continue this unceasing work on the world level. . . . Let us pray that the Lord will grant us a pontiff who will embrace this noble mission with a generous heart."
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