implosion linefeed: Pope Francis: Argentine is Latin America's 1st pontiff

Dmitry Lovetsky / AP

Pope Francis I blesses the crowd from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

By Alastair Jamieson and Ian Johnston, NBC News

VATICAN CITY - Argentine Cardinal?Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected the first non-European pope in more than 1,000 years on Wednesday,?signaling the beginning to a new era for a church combating scandal and internal strife.

Described as a conservative with "great compassion,"?the 76-year-old will be known as His Holiness Pope Francis. He will be installed at the Vatican on Tuesday.

The first Latin American pope was introduced from the balcony of St. Peter?s Basilica.

Smartphone user? Watch live scenes from Vatican here

There was an audible gasp from the rain-soaked crowd - an indication that he had not been a widely tipped choice - followed by a roar and wild applause.

In Italian, he seemed to address his outsider status by joking: "As you know the duty of the conclave is to give Rome a bishop. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world."

Newly-elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio speaks to St. Peter's Square and delivers a blessing after being elected as Pope Francis I.

?Pray for me and I will see you soon," he added, asking Catholics to also pray for his predecessor Benedict XVI, who abdicated on Feb. 28. "Have a good evening and rest well.?

The new leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics is also the first Jesuit pope.

About an hour before Francis emerged, white smoke rose above the Sistine Chapel and bells rang out across Rome to signal a decision had been made.

Known for his humility, Francis is the son of a railway worker and one of five siblings. He has a chemistry degree.

Francis?has only one lung, the other having been removed due to an infection when he was a teenager.

He prizes simplicity and is expected to encourage priests to do shoe-leather evangelization, according to his biographer.

The unveiling of the new pope was moment of pure joy for the tens of thousands of pilgrims, tourists and other onlookers in St Peter's Square. ?

"Who is this?" asked Deirdre Sweeney from Boston, Mass., when Francis first walked onto the balcony.

"Argentinian!" shouted a man nearby.

Americans were among the tens of thousands who gathered to witness the unveiling of Pope Francis.

??I think this is wonderful,? said Sweeney?s husband, Kevin. ?It's an incredible breakthrough - a pope from the Western hemisphere, and the southern half, too. =It's a wonderful change for the church and recognition for the area the church is growing in.?

There was also excitement in South America. "A Latino is more open to others, while a European is more closed," Ana Solis, 75, told Reuters outside Santiago's Metropolitan Cathedral in Chile. "A change like this, with a Latin American, will be very important for we Latin Americans ... (he will be) more open, more honest."

Vote: Was Pope Francis a good choice?

Smoke billowed from the chimney at 7:07 p.m. (2:07 p.m. ET) on the second day of behind-closed-doors voting.

The cardinals are thought to have taken five ballots to reach the two-thirds of the vote necessary for a decision.

The new pontiff's debut was heralded by a Latin announcement beginning with the phrase "Habemus Papam!" meaning, "We have a pope!"

George Weigel, NBC News' Vatican analyst, said Francis would be "a great defender of religion around the world.?

LIVE VIDEO ? Watch live pictures from St. Peter's Square following the announcement that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected as the next pope.

?The papacy has moved to the New World. The church has a new pope with a new name,? he added. ?I think it speaks to the church?s commitment to the poor of the world and compassion in a world that often needs a lot of healing.?

Edward Egan, the Archbishop Emeritus of New York, said this was ?the moment of Latin America.?

?I can assure you he?s not feeble in any way at 76,? he told NBC's Brian Williams.

'You're going to like him a lot'
Egan said Francis was ?a man who calmly stands for what?s right and just,? and someone with ?great compassion for the poor.?

?I cannot tell you, Brian, how delighted I am,? he said. ?This is a man who I know and who was very, very good to me.?

Egan said Francis was a ?very good friend of mine,? and he had ?immense admiration for him.?

?I think you?re going to like him a lot,? he added.

NBC News Special Report: The Vatican announces that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been elected as the new head of the Catholic Church.

President Barack Obama hailed Francis as a "champion of the poor" and said the choice of the first pope from the Americas spoke "to the strength and vitality" of a region "that is increasingly shaping our world."

"Alongside millions of Hispanic Americans, those of us in the United States share the joy of this historic day," the president said in a statement.

Now known as Pope Emeritus, Francis' predecessor Benedict watched Wednesday's events from a temporary lakeside residence at Castel Gandolfo while his permanent living quarters inside Vatican City are refurbished.

The behind-the-scenes ballot process that took place in the Sistine Chapel should still remain a secret. Both the cardinals and staff working alongside them swore an oath of secrecy as the conclave got under way, with the threat of ex-communication for anyone breaking the church's ancient code.

NBC News' Yuka Tachibana contributed to this report.