Habemus Papam!

At roughly 2:15 EST, white smoke began to billow from the Sistine Chapel signifying that a new pope had been chosen. Millions – if not billions – of people gathered around televisions around the world in what seemed like an eternity ... waiting to see who the new leader of the Catholic Church was. Finally, Jorge Mario Bergoglio entered the balcony and introduced himself to his followers for the first time as Pope Francis I. Cardinal Bergoglio was, not only the only real challenger to future-Pope Benedict XVI back in 2005's conclave, but is also now the first leader of the church to come from the Western Hemisphere. The Argentinian was a bit of a surprise to most (although his name had been thrown around a bit recently), but alas ... he is the new pontiff. So is he the right man for the job?



The College of Cardinals seems to think so, and it bodes well for him that he was elected just a couple days into the conclave. Bergoglio also was a favorite of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, which will help him in the eyes of his peers. He is a Jesuit, which has many people in the group rejoicing. As mentioned before, he is also from Argentina – an area of the Catholic world that has been dwindling in recent years. South America as a whole has been losing its way within the Catholic Church, and with the Latin countries making up so much of the church's populous, it would be great to see if the new pope can bring them back in to the fold. There is little to be sure of at the moment – and we will almost assuredly have to wait a long time before we see what his impact is – but Bergoglio has all the potential in the world. With strong ties to both the conservatives in the church and those whom have drifted away, it will be interesting to see how he fares – as Pope Francis I.