The 14 days of waiting ended on Wednesday night in Vatican City when the much-awaited white smoke finally emanated from the Sistine Chapel ceiling and the phrase "Habemus Papam!" was said. To the cheers of thousands of chimney watchers, Argentinean Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was introduced to the world as Pope Francis by French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran.

The new pontiff, like his predecessor Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, broke many of the traditions in the Roman Catholic Church by being the first pope from the Jesuit order and taking an unused papal name.

His election came on the fifth round of balloting, making the 2013 conclave as one of the fastest. With a Latin American pope who did not come from the Roman Curia, Pope Francis I is expected to reform the church badly damaged by sex abuse scandals involving the clergy.

While he is Argentinean by nationality, he is actually Italian by blood since his parents, Mario Jose Bergoglio and Regina Maria Sivori, were Italian immigrants to Argentina. His father was a railway worker while his mother was a housewife.

The 76-year-old pontiff is the 266th pope known for his simple lifestyle, opting to take public transportation instead of using a chauffeured limousine, lives in a small apartment rather than the bishop's palace and cooks his own meals. He was born in 1936 in Buenos Aires and joined the Jesuit Order in 1958, taking up philosophy, literature and psychology.

He initially studied chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires but eventually decided to become a priest and was ordained in 1969 and became a professor of theology. He became cardinal in 2001. Reports quoted Vatican insiders as saying that in 2005, Cardinal Bergoglio was one of the frontrunners to be pope after John Paul II died, but he conceded to then German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who became Pope Benedict XVI but decided to resign after eight years.

The new pope's name aptly fits his lifestyle. He took the name from St Francis of Assisi who was known for renouncing his family's wealth and opted for a life of poverty. He was the founder of the Franciscan order of friars in 1290.

In his first papal address, he said in Italian to the crowd, "You know that the work of the conclave is to give a bishop to Rome. It seems as if my brother cardinals went to fund him from the end of the earth. Thank you for the welcome," said the outgoing Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

The past events from the resignation of Pope Benedict to the conclave resurrected St Malachy's prophesy that the 266th pope would be the final pope and will oversee the church as it is destroyed. The naming of Pope Francis would heighten these speculations.

Bettors, it turned out are poor prophets since the cardinal was not on the shortlist of papabilis in Paddy Power's list nor was the papal name on its roster.

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