Vatican City, Apr 18, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Pope Benedict XVI emerged onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica waving and smiling at a wildly cheering crowd of tens of thousands packed in St. Peter’s Square.
The square filled up quickly after news that a new Pope had been elected to succeed Pope John Paul II. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected today as the 265th Pope and successor of Peter. He took the name Benedict XVI.
The newly elected pontiff addressed the crowd in Italian: “My dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.
“I am consoled in knowing that the Lord knows how to work with insufficient means, and I entrust myself to your prayers,” Pope Benedict said after Chilean Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estivez introduced him with the traditional Latin phrase, “Habemus Papam” (We have a Pope).