Crowds swarmed outside the metropolitan cathedral in Buenos Aires, chanting as they waved Argentine flags.

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The election was met with thunderous applause at the cathedral in Buenos Aires, Pope Francis' home city.

BBC: Argentina's Jorge Mario Bergoglio elected Pope Francis

Alejandro Russo, the rector of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires, said it was unlikely the pope had ever expressed such a view, even in private.

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In Buenos Aires, hundreds of people gathered outside the cathedral in the Plaza de Mayo, considered the heart of the country, and burst into celebration when their native son was elevated.

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The 76-year-old former archbishop of Buenos Aires, who was elected Wednesday as the first-ever Latin American pontiff, was feted by thousands of chanting and flag-waving Argentines gathered outside the cathedral in the Plaza de Mayo in downtown Buenos Aires.

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