The cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church chose their new pope on Wednesday. The new pope Francis has lived for 50 years functioning only by one lung. The other lung was removed when he was young, due to an infection. His father was an Italian railway worker.
Pope Francis trained to be a chemist when he was younger and is the first non- European pope in the modern era. He informed Argentinians not to travel to Rome if he was appointed, but to spend their money on the poor, instead.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the first pontiff to take the name Pope Francis. The Cardinal’s decision risked running into controversy straight away, due to Argentina’s troubled past. The new pope appeared at the balcony over the entrance of St Peter’s basilica on Wednesday. An hour before-hand, white smoke had poured out of the chimney above the Sistine Chapel, symbolizing that the cardinals had made their decision.
Credit: AP/Gregorio Borgia
