White smoke billowed out of the world’s most famous chimney Thursday as the college of cardinals elected a new pope.
The new pope will soon emerge, to have his name and new papal name announced. The historic occasion holds the eyes of the world.
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While progressives favored the late Pope Francis’s protégés, like Pietro Parolin of Italy (Francis’s right hand at the Vatican) and Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, conservatives hoped for a more traditional pope, like Robert Sarah of Guinea.
The conclave only began on Wednesday, making it a short conclave, with only two days of voting and deliberation from the cardinals, most of whom were appointed by the late Pope Francis.
Catholics and even many non-Catholics await the name of the new pope, as the white smoke is greeted by a cheering crowd in St. Peter’s Square.
“There was a deep sense that in Pope Benedict, they had an ally, particularly for the old Latin Mass,” stated university religion professor Sarah Riccardi-Swartz. “And with Pope Francis, that seemed to go away. That was a point of not just contention but real sorrow for a lot of traditionalists.”
This is a developing story and will be updated when we learn the name of the new pope,
