CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) -- El cardenal argentino Jorge Mario Bergoglio, de 76 años de edad, fue elegido como el papa 266 y tomó el nombre Francisco.

SANTO DOMINGO, República Dominicana (CNS) -– Algunos latinoamericanos dicen que la elección del primer papa oriundo de la región es un reconocimiento del papel mundial que el hemisferio sur tiene en el futuro de la Iglesia.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis began his first full day as pope with an early morning act of Marian devotion -- and by paying the bill at the clergy hotel where he had stayed before entering the conclave that elected him.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Two U.S. cardinals described Pope Francis as an ideal choice to lead the church in the modern world.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Here is the English translation of Pope Francis I's remarks delivered from the balcony after his election as pope.

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) -- El cardenal argentino Jorge Mario Bergoglio, de 76 años de edad, fue elegido como el papa 266 y tomó el nombre Francisco.

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – Sorprendiendo a las multitudes a nivel mundial, nubes de humo blancas brotaron de la chimenea en el techo de la Capilla Sixtina este 13 de marzo, lo que indica un papa ha sido elegido en la quinta votación del cónclave.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, was elected the 266th pope and took the name Francis.

Despite the rain, thousands of people filled St. Peter's Square after dark March 12, the first evening of the conclave, to witness the black smoke that signaled the Catholic Church's 115 cardinal electors had failed, as expected, to elect a pope on the first ballot.

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) -- Durante su última reunión antes de entrar en el cónclave para elegir a un nuevo papa, los cardenales del mundo escucharon un informe sobre el banco del Vaticano y de los continuos esfuerzos por cumplir con los estándares internacionales para prevenir el lavado de dinero y el financiamiento del terrorismo.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The 115 cardinals participating in the conclave will know the identity of the new pope before the rest of the world, but their advance knowledge is likely to last for well over an hour, and even more in the unlikely event that the candidate they choose is not in the Sistine Chapel with them.

On Thursday, March 7, the Texas Catholic Conference, along with the Texas Medical Association, the Texas Hospital Association, Texas Alliance for Life and the Christian Life Commission - Texas Baptists, hosted a legislative briefing for legislators and their staff to present and discuss proposed reforms to the Texas Advance Directives Act of 1999.

Three bills proposing school choice scholarships in Texas were filed in Austin on Friday May 8. The bills, introduced by Senators Dan Patrick (SB 23) and Ken Paxton (SB 1015) and State Rep. Bill Callegari (HB 3245), take an innovative approach to addressing persistent issues of equitable funding and accountability for Texas school children by creating a scholarship program funded by contributions from Texas businesses.

Msgr. Louis Kihneman III, Vicar General and Chancellor for the Diocese of Corpus Christi blessed the new rectory and office building at St. John of the Cross in Orange Grove on Sunday, March 10.

Several hundred lay faithful attended the second Vatican II Symposium organized by the Diocese of Corpus Christi. The symposium was held at St. Joseph Hall at the Corpus Christi Cathedral on March 9.

ROME (CNS) -- An ordinary parish in a middle-class Rome neighborhood became a center of pre-conclave excitement March 10 when its honorary pastor, New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, came to celebrate Sunday Mass.

ROME (CNS) -- It took a "papabile" American cardinal as guest celebrant one Sunday to fill the pews of a small Roman church, which is normally trafficked only by hordes of backpack-slinging tourists.

Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey made a pastoral visit to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Sarita on March 10.

About 100 students and persons with disabilities celebrated Mass, dined, danced, and laughed together at the 2nd Annual Special Hearts Prom at Blessed John Paul II High School on March 10.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Cardinal electors assembled in Rome will begin voting for the next pope March 12.