At 6:43 Rome time, after the appearance of the “fumata bianca” or white smoke, the Cardinal protodeacon, Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez, gave the announcement to the people from the “loggia” or balcony of benediction at the front of the Vatican Basilica with these words:
Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum; habemus Papam:
Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum Josephum
Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Ratzinger
qui sibi nomen imposuit Benedictum XVI
(I announce to you a great joy: We have a Pope,
the Most Eminent and Reverend Joseph,
Cardinal of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, Ratzinger
Who has taken the name of Benedict XVI.)
The conclave which carried out the election of Benedict XVI began on Monday, April 18, in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, with the “extra omnes” entoned at 5:25 by the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, Archbishop Piero Marini, after the swearing in of the 115 Cardinal electors.
The first “fumata neri” (black smoke) appeared at 8:04 p.m. on that same day. On the following day, April 19, black smoke also appeared at 11:52 a.m.
The “fumata bianca” appeared at 5:50 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19.
At 6:48, the Holy Father Benedict XVI, preceded by the Cross, came out to the exterior “loggia” of the basilica to greet the multitude and to impart the apostolic blessing “Urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world).
Before his benediction, the new Pontiff directed these words to the faithful:
My dear brothers and sisters: After the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have chosen me, a humble worker in the Lord’s vineyard . . . I am consoled by the fact that our Lord makes use of inadequate instruments and I entrust myself to your prayers. In the joy of the Risen Lord, confiding in his permanent help, let us go forward. The Lord will help us and Mary, his most holy Mother, will be at our side. Thank you.”
When the conclave had finished, the Holy Father Benedict XVI, decided to have dinner today with all the cardinals in the “Domus Sanctae Marthae,” where he will spend the night. Tomorrow, at 9:00, the Pope will preside at a Eucharistic concelebration with the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel and preach the homily in Latin.
The Mass of solemn inauguration of the pontificate will be celebrated at St. Peter’s on Sunday, April 24, at ten in the morning.