Pilgrims gather in St. Peter’s Square as white smoke rises during the election of Pope Francis in Vatican City.

Habemus Papam

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Religious pilgrims and catholics from across the globe gather in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, the papal enclave within Rome, as the College of Cardinals assemble to begin their conclave to choose a successor to Pope Benedict XVI, the leader of some 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide, who resigned in Feb. 2013. When the white smoke finally rose above the Sistine Chapel, announcing the new spiritual leader of the church, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected as the 266th pontiff in the church's 2,000 year history.

Taking the name, Francis, Bergoglio was the church's first non-European to be elected for almost 1,300 years.

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