Jorge Mario Bergolio is the first Pope from South America!

Argentina's Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope Francis I on Wednesday, becoming the first Latin American pontiff  in history!

The 76-year-old moderate emerged smiling on to the balcony of St Peter's Basilica to the cry of "Habemus Papam!" ("We Have a Pope!"), as tens of thousands of pilgrims cheered, cried and applauded.

Francis called for "brotherhood" among the Church's 1.2 billion Catholics and prayed the Hail Mary together with the crowd in St Peter's Square.

He said he felt as if cardinals had gone to "the other end of the world" to find him -- and across the Atlantic Ocean in Buenos Aires celebrations erupted.

Francis also publicly thanked his predecessor Benedict XVI, who shocked the world by resigning last month in a move unseen for seven centuries.

Posted in: Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergolio, Pope Francis I