The 2013 papal conclave was when cardinals met to elect the pope to replace Pope Benedict XVI after his resignation on 28 February 2013. After the 115 cardinal-electors gathered, they set 12 March 2013 as the beginning of the conclave. On the fifth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, SJ, Archbishop of Buenos Aires. He took the pontifical name of Francis. It took two days to elected Bergoglio as the next pope.
Angelo Sodano was the dean of this conclave. It was held at the Sistine Chapel in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City.
Possible candidates
Besides Bergoglio, the following cardinals were seen as possible candidates for pope: Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest Seán Patrick O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches Odilo Pedro Scherer, Archbishop of São Paulo Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila Peter Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Aftermath
Pope Francis celebrated his inauguration on 19 March 2013 and became Bishop of Rome on 7 April.
In October 2013, the Italian weekly magazine Panorama claimed that the United States National Security Agency had targeted cardinals in the conclave for surveillance, including Cardinal Bergoglio. An NSA spokesperson denied this.