American Pope Elected, Robert F. Prevost; He's Addressing the Crowd

They counted votes far faster than Arizona.

"Habemus Papam!"

White smoke began pouring from the Sistine Chapel chimney on Thursday, signaling the College of Cardinals has chosen a successor to Pope Francis.

And now the world waits to learn who he is.

Riotous applause and cheers erupted from the faithful crowd of thousands gathered at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, where eyes had been glued to the simple chimney since the secretive conclave process began just over a day ago.

White smoke finally appeared just after 6 p.m. local time on the cardinals' fourth vote -- following one vote Wednesday and two earlier Thursday that ended in failure and black smoke.

All eyes have now turned to the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica overlooking the square, where the new pope will soon emerge to the proclamation "Habemus Papam!" -- Latin for "We have a pope!"

When he arrives, the new pontiff will be dressed in traditional white papal vestments in the Room of Tears -- a small space next to the Sistine Chapel that supposedly got its name from the emotion felt by the new pope in those moments.

Whoever was chosen met the two-third majority required to be named -- meaning at least 89 votes from the 133 cardinals who joined the conclave voted in their favor.

Some background on Prevost:

t is typically absurd to think of an American as pope. But in this conclave, a Chicago-born Augustinian friar who has spent much of his life outside of the United States is worthy of serious consideration.

Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, heads the influential Vatican Dicastery for Bishops, the office tasked with advising the pope on bishop appointments around the world.

While cardinals have been gathering after the death of Pope Francis, Prevost's star appears to be rising as Cardinal Pietro Parolin's candidacy seems in trouble. Prevost could become the candidate for those seeking a curial insider who is not Parolin, after the Vatican secretary of state's lackluster homily on Sunday raised concerns about a charisma gap.

Some cardinals already had their eye on Prevost because of his global experience. Though he may be American by birth, he has spent only a third of his life in the United States, instead spending much of the rest of it in Europe and Latin America.

He's only been in charge for two years, taking over from Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who held the post for 15 years and helped leave a conservative imprint on the Catholic hierarchy.

"We are often worried about teaching doctrine, but we risk forgetting that our first duty is to communicate the beauty and joy of knowing Jesus," Prevost, in one of his few interviews, told Vatican News, the news portal of the Holy See.

Below, the live feed from the Vatican.

I'm going to put the Hunter Biden post into draft, then pop it back up for a bit later.

posted by Ace at 01:19 PM

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