papal conclave

Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as Pope Francis on Wednesday, after only two days of voting in the conclave tasked with choosing a successor to Pope Benedict XVI.

A hierarchy looking to make a clear statement about where the troubled church is headed chose on Wednesday the first member of the influential Jesuit order to be the next pope. Yet they also chose Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a humble man who lives simply and took the name Francis (also a first) that evokes the founder of another great religious order.

Cardinals elected Argentina's Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis I on Wednesday to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

Black smoke from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel signaled that the first day of the conclave ended without the election of a new pope.

As the Vatican prepares for the opening of the conclave on Tuesday to elect a new pope, officials announced that the personal secretary of former Pope Benedict XVI will return to Rome for the first time since Benedict's resignation on Feb. 28.

Today, 115 cardinals will begin the process of electing the next leader of Catholicism's 1.2 billion members. Why is this event important to non-Catholics?