We have a Pope. White plumes of smoke in the air and bells are ringing. UPDATE : THE NEW POPE IS POPE BENEDICT XVI , FORMERLY CARDINAL JOSEPH RATZINGER

H/T Michelle Malkin: Pictures from Smoke cam

UPDATE: Video of the Papal announcement via Jackson’s Junction and Pope Benedict’s first appearance at the Vatican balcony.

More on Pope Benedict XVI:

AP

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, a hard-line guardian of conservative doctrine, was elected the new pope Tuesday evening in the first conclave of the new millennium. He chose the name Pope Benedict XVI and called himself “a simple, humble worker.”

Ratzinger, the first German pope since the 11th century, emerged onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, where he waved to a wildly cheering crowd of tens of thousands and gave his first blessing as pope. Other cardinals clad in their crimson robes came out on other balconies to watch him.

Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me — a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord,” he said. “I entrust myself to your prayers,” the pope said.

The crowd responded by chanting “Benedict! Benedict!”

Ratzinger served John Paul II since 1981 as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In that position, he has disciplined church dissidents and upheld church policy against attempts by liberals for reforms. He turned 78 on Saturday.

The new pope had gone into the conclave with the most buzz among two dozen leading candidates. He had impressed many faithful with his stirring homily at the funeral of John Paul II, who died April 2 at age 84.

BBC Ratzinger is elected as new pope

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been elected as the pope – the head of the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.

Taking the name Pope Benedict XVI, the 78-year-old German has appeared on the balcony of the Vatican palace.

His arrival was greeted by cheers from the many thousands of pilgrims who had packed St Peter’s Square as news of his election spread.

He was chosen on the third round of votes by the 115 cardinals meeting to select Pope John Paul II’s successor.

More details soon.

CNN

VATICAN CITY (CNN) — Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany has been selected by the Roman Catholic church as the new pope.

Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez of Chile made the announcement to a cheering crowd in St. Peter’s Square.

Ratzinger, who took the name Benedict XVI, appeared on the balcony of the Vatican Basilica to greet the people and deliver his first papal blessing.

Earlier, white smoke rose from a Sistine Chapel chimney and bells rang Tuesday, signaling the selection of a new pope.

The crowd clapped and waved flags as the smoke began to billow over Vatican City about 5:50 p.m. (11:50 a.m. ET).

Suspense built as the throng waited for the symbolic ringing of bells, at which point the crowd broke into a roar of jubilation.

The conclave of 115 cardinals had voted three times previously — once Monday night and twice Tuesday morning — before selecting the new pope.

The cardinals’ morning ballots were burned at about 11:50 a.m. (5:50 a.m. EDT).

Chemicals are added to the ballots to turn the smoke white or black.

Pope John Paul II, who died April 2 at age 84, had decreed that white smoke be accompanied by the ringing of bells, to avoid a repeat of the confusion after his election in 1978.

Ratzinger needed two-thirds of the votes to be selected.

Speculation rife

There has been a great deal of speculation about who may be chosen to succeed John Paul II, who died April 2 at the age of 84, but cardinals have been mum.

Some taking part in the conclave said they are looking for a leader who presents a hopeful vision, who can “generate some dynamism and some optimism within Catholicism,” CNN Vatican analyst John Allen said.

The first clues to the process of finding a successor were sought during the homily or sermon delivered by Ratzinger at Monday’s public Mass.

“Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism,” Ratzinger said.

Allen said Ratzinger delivered a “very blunt” message for the church to “stay true to itself.”

That was a strong indication that Ratzinger, 78, wants a “traditionalist” elected the next pope, Allen said.

John Paul was widely credited with extending the reach of the papacy. He spoke more than a dozen languages and set an unprecedented pattern of pastoral travel, drawing huge crowds all over the world.

He was also strictly traditional on issues of sexuality and the role of women in the church, which won him support among some Catholics but alienated others. Similar disagreement exists over the next pontiff’s stances on issues such as birth control, stem cell research and the ordination of female priests.

The Right Nation

Fumata bianca.

Eletto il nuovo Papa. Piazza San Pietro, invasa da fedeli (e non), aspetta di conoscere il nome del successore di Karol Wojtyla. UPDATE. E’ Ratzinger!!! UPDATE (2). Il nuovo Papa ha scelto il nome di Benedetto XVI. UPDATE (3). Breve biografia di Joseph Ratzinger. Lo speciale sul conclave di Rai.it.

 

 

La Stampa (Italy)

 

Benedetto XVI saluta la folla dei fedeli
LA FUMATA BIANCA ALLE 17.50
Dopo un niente di fatto nelle due tornate di voto mattutine, à ¨ stato il voto pomeridiano che ha portato all’elezione del nuovo pontefice. Il camino della Sistina ha preso a fumare alle 17.50 e questa volta il fumo era inequivocabilmente bianco. Il nuovo papa à ¨ stato dunque eletto dopo cinque scrutini. Il suono delle campane ha confermato l’elezione

 

Rueters

 

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – A new pope was elected by Roman Catholic cardinals on Tuesday to succeed John Paul II. The election of the 265th pontiff on only the second day of a conclave in the Vatican’s frescoed Sistine Chapel was signaled by white smoke from the chapel chimney and the tolling of the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica.

But there were many minutes of confusion over the color of the smoke, which initially seemed gray, before the bells began tolling to signal the successful election.

Even Vatican Radio had initially said the color of the smoke was unclear. Black smoke indicates an inconclusive vote.

Tens of thousands of people in the square cheered when the vote was confirmed.

It was only the third time in a century that a pope had been chosen on the second day of a conclave. The name of the new leader of 1.1 billion Roman Catholics was to be announced shortly.

He was to appear on the main balcony of the basilica to deliver his first public address.

The 115 red-robed cardinals from 52 countries who were eligible to elect a new pontiff started their secret meeting on Monday. Three earlier votes had been inconclusive.

A candidate required a two-thirds majority or at least 77 votes to become pope.

Pope John Paul II died on April 2 after serving as pontiff for 26 years — the third longest papacy in Church history.

NEW POPE FACES DAUNTING CHALLENGES

The new pope will face the daunting task of following one of the most dynamic papacies in history but also one that divided the Church between conservatives and moderates.

The election came more quickly than most Vatican experts had predicted. They expected the new pope to emerge on Wednesday or Thursday. The front-runner going into the conclave was German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, standard-bearer for the conservative heirs of John Paul and the late pope’s doctrinal watchdog.

But earlier on Tuesday both experts and bookmakers had said Ratzinger’s candidacy was weakening.

The 20th century’s eight conclaves lasted from two to five days, with the average just over three days.

Some 15 cardinals have been touted as potential popes, among them Italy’s Dionigi Tettamanzi, Honduran Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, India’s Ivan Dias and Austria’s Christoph Schoenborn.

Before the conclave door shut on Monday, Ratzinger made a final appeal to his fellow electors to protect traditional teachings and to shun the “dictatorship of relativism.”

Ratzinger made no mention of the challenges that other cardinals and ordinary Catholics say should top the agenda such as poverty, Islam, science, sexual morality and Church reform.

(Additional reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques, Phil Stewart and Jane Barrett in Vatican City)

The Courier Mail , Brisbane Australia

NEW POPE ELECTED

CARDINALS have elected a new leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics, sending white smoke billowing from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel after a conclave lasting little more than 24 hours.

As bells rang there was no immediate indication of the identity of the 265th pontiff.

A cardinal is expected to appear on the balcony over St Peter’s Square within 45 minutes of the announcement to reveal the new pope’s identity and introduce him to thousands of pilgrims massing on the square. More to follow.

NDTV (India)

Expatica, Netherlands

19 April 2005

VATICAN CITY – German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope on Tuesday by a conclave of cardinals held at the Vatican.

The new supreme leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics succeeds John Paul II, who died on 2 April at the age of 84. Ratzinger is the eighth German to be elected pope.

Ratzinger chose Benedict XVI as the name he will be calling himself as the new pope.

The last pope to choose such a name was Benedict XV, Italian-born Giacomo della Chiesa, who ruled the church between 1914 and 1922.

In choosing Ratzinger as the new Pope Benedict XVI, the church is seeking continuity, said a German Catholic Priest.

“The church is

Applause and cheers from crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square greeted the news that a new pope was elected as supreme leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics by cardinals meeting for a secret conclave at the Vatican.

The election was signalled by white smoke billowing out of a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel and was confirmed minutes later by the peal of bells from St. Peter’s Basilica.

The identity of the successor of the late John Paul II was made public shortly afterwards.

The papal election came during the third round of voting, making the conclave one of the shortest in history.

The cardinals had failed to reach a two-thirds majority on a single candidate during the previous two rounds.

A total of 115 ‘princes’ of the church from 52 different countries took part in the election process, which began on Monday afternoon.

Uncertainty reigned in the square as the colour of the smoke puffing out from the chapel containing Michelangelo frescoes was unclear for several minutes.

To avoid confusion, the Vatican ordered church bells to ring in unison with white smoke to signal that a pope had indeed been elected

Text from Pope Benedict XVI Blessing

Text of the speech delivered by Joseph Ratzinger, elected pope Tuesday, from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. He chose the name of Benedict XVI.

“Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me – a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.

“The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers.

“In the joy of the risen Lord, trusting in his permanent help, we go forward. The Lord will help us and Mary his very holy mother stands by us.”

UPDATE: (AP) Ratzinger’s hometown cheer his Papacy election

Students at the seminary where Joseph Ratzinger studied for the priesthood as a teenager in the 1940s erupted in cheers Tuesday at the news that he had become the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Students at St. Michael’s seminary in Traunstein pumped their hands in the air, and the schools director was in tears.

“I’m completely overwhelmed. I can’t fathom what happened,” Rev. Thomas Frauenlob said. “He eats with us. I can’t grasp it. I know he’s going to do a really good job.”

The class then joyfully ran together into church for Mass, joined by a few people from the town before church’s ornate gold altar. Frauenlob, who officiated, said, “We’re celebrating our Bavarian pope, and we are thankful.”

“It’s fantastic that it’s Cardinal Ratzinger. I met him when he was here before and I found him really nice,” said Lorenz Gradl, 16, who was confirmed by Ratzinger in 2003.

Michael Winichner, the school’s prefect who has had dinner with Ratzinger at Christmas time, said there was “a great feeling of celebration.”

“He’s a very nice man,” he said. “He comes off a little bit shy.”

One reason the students were excited was the possibility of a trip to Rome to meet the pope. Winichner was hesitant: “I imagine he has a rather full appointment calendar.”

Ratzinger was born in the town of Marktl Am Inn, but the family moved often because of his father’s job as a police officer, and he wrote in his memoirs that he considered Traunstein his hometown. He visits the town often, and stays in an apartment at the seminary, which now functions as a high school and no longer focuses on preparing young men for the priesthood.

People in Traunstein say they’ve seen Ratzinger’s softer side, despite his reputation as a theological hard-liner. Frauenlob said he has come home to confirm teenagers and had spent time ministering to the old and sick.

Traunstein was where Ratzinger returned after deserting the German army in 1945, and it was the place where he was taken prisoner by U.S. troops. He was released from a U.S. POW camp in June of that year and hitched a ride home on a milk truck.