Argentine Jorge Bergoglio was elected pope Wednesday succeeding Pope Benedict XVI after he retired last month. Cardinal Bergoglio chose the papal name Francis, becoming first pontiff from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium.

Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. (AP/PTI)

Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is pictured in this undated handout photo courtesy of Clarin. Ardent followers belive that Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Gfrancis is the 'real voice for the voiceless and vulnerable'. (Reuters)

Pope Francis, the son of middle-class Italian immigrants, came close to becoming pope during the last conclave in 2005. He reportedly gained the second-highest vote total in several rounds of voting before he bowed out of the running before selection of Vatican insider Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI.

Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (back 2nd L) and his family members are seen in this undated handout photo provided by Clarin. (Reuters)

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran announces the newly elected Pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who took the name of Pope Francis from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. (AP/PTI)

White smoke emerges from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel indicating that the new pope has been elected, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. (AP/PTI)

Newly elected Pope Francis I, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica after being elected by the conclave of cardinals, at the Vatican. (Reuters)

Pope Francis, the first from Latin America and the first from the Jesuit order, bowed to the crowds in St. Peter's Square and asked for their blessing in a hint of the humble style he cultivated while trying to modernize Argentina's conservative Roman Catholic Church from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. (Reuters)

Faithful wave an Argentine flag and sing outside the Metropolitan Cathedral as they celebrate in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP)

People celebrate and trade tales about chatting with Cardinal Bergoglio as he squeezed in with others for the commute to work. While some talk what he planned to cook for dinner in the simple downtown apartment he chose over an opulent church estate. (AP)

A worshiper holds up the front page of a magazine showing a photograph of Jorge Mario Bergoglio during celebrations outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP)