The selection of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires in the papal election of 2013 made history in several ways: the first Latin American, the first Jesuit, the first pope ever to choose the name Francis. But these “firsts” were only the beginning of a consequential papacy of historic proportions. How did his election come about? Although a contender in the previous conclave of 2008, Cardinal Bergolio appeared on few lists of likely candidates entering the conclave of 2013. In this book, written by a top Vatican journalist, we find an inside, day-by-day account of the process that began with Pope Benedict’s XVI’s surprising retirement, and continued up to Pope Francis’s election and installation.

ISBN: 9781626983199