Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on Wednesday as leader of the world's 1.2 billon Catholics.(Photo: Damian Dopacio, AFP/Getty Images)
When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was named as the new pope at the Vatican on Wednesday, he kicked off a series of firsts:
-- First pontiff from the Americas
-- First South American pope, representing the largest Catholic population in the world
-- First Jesuit pope
-- First pope to pick the name Francis
-- First pope to be elected after a papal resignation (in the modern era).
-- First tweet sent from the official papal account on Twitter @pontifex after Francis was chosen: "HABEMUS PAPAM FRANCISCUM"
Other interesting facts about the new pope:
-- Despite being
Argentina's top church official, Bergoglio never lived in ornate church
mansion in Buenos Aires, preferring a simple bed in a downtown room
heated by a small stove. For years, he took public transportation around
the city, and cooked his own meals.
--
Couldn't prevent Argentina from becoming the first Latin American
country to legalize gay marriage, or stop its president, Cristina
Fernandez, from promoting free contraception and artificial
insemination. When Bergoglio argued that gay adoptions discriminate
against children, Fernandez compared his tone to "medieval times and the
Inquisition."
-- Critics accuse him of failing to stand up
publicly against the country's military dictatorship from 1976-1983,
when victims and their relatives often brought first-hand accounts of
torture, death and kidnappings.
-- Bergoglio reportedly received the second-most votes after Joseph Ratzinger in the 2005 papal election.
-- Bergoglio had a lung removed due to infection when he was a teenager.
Contributing: The Associated Press