Pope Francis made headlines around the globe Thursday, with every major newspaper heralding the election of a new leader of the Catholic church.
The former archibishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, started out his first full day by visiting St. Mary Major basilica, where he remained in prayer for 30 minutes.
He made the visit after telling the crowd of 100,000 in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday that he planned to pray to the Madonna “that she may watch over all of Rome.”
Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope, spoke by phone with Pope Emeritus Benedict on Wednesday and will call on him at his private residence outside of Rome in the coming days.
The first non-European in modern times chose the name Francis after St. Francis of Assisi, the humble friar who dedicated his life to serving the poor.
We’ve included photos showing this morning’s newspaper headlines from major cities around the world:
Photos: WENN