Vatican: It's Pope Francis (Without the Roman Numeral)

8:17 PM, Mar 13, 2013   |    comments
Pope Francis I (C) blesses faithful from the window of St Peter's Basilica's balcony after being elected the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on March 13, 2013. (VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)
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VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican says the new pope's official name is Pope Francis, without a Roman numeral.

Spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi sought to clear up any possible confusion, noting that Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who announced the name to the world, said simply Francis. It is listed that way in the first Vatican bulletin on the new pope.

"It will become Francis I after we have a Francis II," Lombardi quipped.