A new pope has been chosen to lead the Roman Catholic Church.The emergence of white smoke from a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican indicated to the world that cardinals have elected a new leader for 1.2 billion Catholics.
The name and nationality of the new pope has not been made public yet.
The newly elected pope will be fitted for his white cassock, and the other cardinals in the conclave will then each individually swear obedience to him.
Before he appears on a balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square, the new pope will stop to pray in the Pauline Chapel.
Ahead of the appearance on the balcony, French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the protodeacon, will announce "Habemus Papam," Latin for "We have a pope!"
The new pope was selected after XXX ballots failed to produce a winner during a conclave that began Tuesday.
The drama unfolded against the backdrop of the turmoil unleashed by Benedict's surprise resignation and the exposure of deep divisions among cardinals who grappled with whether they needed a manager to clean up the Vatican's dysfunctional bureaucracy or a pastor who can inspire Catholics at a time of waning faith and growing secularism.
The cardinals, chosen by either Benedict XVI or John Paul II, swore an oath of secrecy ahead of the conclave, and anyone who communicates details about the process risks excommunication .
For more than a week before the voting, the cardinals met privately to try to figure out who among them had the stuff to be pope and what his priorities should be. But they ended the debate with questions still unanswered, and many cardinals predicted a drawn-out election that would further expose the church's divisions.
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