The new shepherd of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics picked up his luggage at a Vatican hotel, thanked each member of the staff and even paid his own bill.

An Irish priest who lived through a South American dictatorship has defended Pope Francis against claims he failed to stand up to abuses by the military regime in his native Argentina.

President Michael D Higgins has conveyed his sincere best wishes to the new head of the Catholic Church.

The first South American, the first non-European in more than a millennium and the first Jesuit, a new era in the Catholic Church was ushered in as Argentinian cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was last night elected Pope Francis I.

THE worldwide outpouring of affection for Pope John Paul II may have convinced the cardinals choosing his successor that today’s Roman Catholic Church has no room for a so-called “transitional” leader.