The cheering crowd fell silent when Robert Prevost’s name was read out in Latin, and reporters had to tell some of those gathered who he was.
When Cardinal Dominique Mambertì appeared on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica and uttered the fateful Latin phrase “Habemus Papam” (We have a pope), more than a hundred thousand people cheered.
When he read out the new pope’s name in Latin – Robertum Franciscum Prevost (Robert Francis Prevost) – the crowd fell silent.