VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is the first ever from the Americas, an austere Jesuit intellectual who modernized Argentina’s conservative Catholic church. Known until Wednesday as Jorge Bergoglio, the 76-year-old is known as a humble man who denied himself the luxuries that previous Buenos Aires cardinals enjoyed. He came close to becoming pope last time, [...]

In St. Peter’s Square, there was a fleeting moment of indecision when the first plumes of smoke appeared from the Vatican chimney. Some cried out that it was black, signifying that no decision was made by the conclave. Then, seconds later under a steady rain, it became clear that white smoke was pouring out. Wild [...]

Every time a new pontiff is chosen in a conclave, a senior cardinal goes up to him and asks: “And by what name do want to be called?” The question is popped immediately, while all electors are still locked in the Sistine chapel. So the winner had better have done his homework and already picked [...]

The pope’s new clothes were ready before he was. The family-owned Gammarelli tailor shop, which has dressed popes for two centuries, had three sets of vestments — in small, medium and large — prepared for the naming of the new pontiff. The papal outfits were on display in the window of the small wood-paneled store [...]

One thing is sure — the new pope will never truly know who voted for him. Cardinals used to sign their names to ballots, but stopped doing so “due to an old history of intrigues and tensions, when people used to fear the most serious reprisals for their choices,” says Michael Bruter, who teaches political [...]

It was a fairly quick decision. In centuries past, conclaves dragged on for weeks and months, sometimes years. During a 13th-century conclave that stretched for weeks, a leading candidate died. These days the discussions are much quicker. The pope was chosen in five rounds over two days. The previous conclave that chose Benedict XVI went [...]

VATICAN CITY — Cardinals elected a new pope to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics on Wednesday, overcoming deep divisions to select the 266th pontiff in a remarkably fast conclave. Tens of thousands of people who braved cold rain to watch the smokestack atop the Sistine Chapel jumped in joy when white smoke poured out, [...]