Looking Back: The Election of Pope Francis

Looking Back: The Election of Pope Francis 

America

By James Martin, SJ

Pope Francis steps out to the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to greet the people of Rome on the night of his election, March 13, 2013 (CNS)

This is the introduction to the special commemorative issue of America celebrating Pope Francis and his five groundbreaking years. Purchase a copy of Pope Francis: Five Groundbreaking Years here. 

Here’s something you may not hear a Jesuit say very often: I had no clue.
On March 13, 2013, white smoke suddenly started pouring out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, indicating that a new pope had been elected—and more quickly than most people expected.
A few minutes later I was in a television studio in New York, and it fell to me (as it did to countless other commentators) to explain to at least a part of the English-language television audience who was likely to emerge on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as the new pope, the successor to Pope Benedict XVI.

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