Latest from Rome and beyond

• FIRST BLESSING | 12:58 p.m. ET

In his first blessing as pope, Benedict XVI tells the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square: "Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me — a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord. The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers."

• PREVIOUS ROLE | 12:54 p.m. ET

Joseph Ratzinger, the first German pope in centuries, had served John Paul II since 1981 as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In that position, he has disciplined church dissidents and upheld church policy against attempts by liberals for reforms.

• POPE BENEDICT XVI | 12:48 p.m. ET

Chilean Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estivez announces that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has chosen the name Pope Benedict XVI, or the 16th pope of that name.

• GERMAN CARDINAL IS NEW POPE | 12:45 p.m. ET

Chilean Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estivez announces that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany is the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

• 'HABEMUS PAPAM!' | 12:40 p.m. ET

Niels Hendrich, a 40-year-old salesman from Hamburg, Germany, jumped up and down with joy and called his father on a cell phone, when he learned the announcement was imminent. “Habemus papam!” he shouted into the phone, using the Latin for: “We have a pope.”

• A QUICK SELECTION | 12:40 p.m. ET

Prelates gather on the roof of the Apostolic Palace to learn who the new pope will be.

“It’s only been 24 hours, surprising how fast he was elected,” Vatican Radio says, commenting on how the new pope was elected on the second day of the conclave, after just four or five ballots.

• PACKING THE SQUARE | 12:35 p.m. ET

People by the thousands pour into St. Peter's Square. Many wave the flags of their home countries.

• WAITING FOR AN APPEARANCE | 12:25 p.m. ET

The new pope is expected to appear soon on the main balcony of the basilica to deliver his first public address.

• CHEERS IN THE SQUARE | 12:12 p.m. ET

Realizing that a new pope has been chosen, crowds in St. Peter's Square chant: “Viva il papa!” or “Long live the pope!”

• NEW POPE | 12:09 p.m. ET

Bells ringing signaling election of a pope.

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