Cardinals quickly rallied around Bergoglio

Since Pope Francis is rumored to have been the runner-up in the previous papal conclave, for possible future reference here's what Barry Moody, via Reuters, reported at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Carlo Marroni, the respected Vatican correspondent for the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore, said the votes in the cardinals' first ballot on Tuesday evening [March 12th] were split between [Milan Archbishop Angelo] Scola, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet [prefect of the Congregation for Bishops] and Bergoglio, with the latter [sic, last] slightly behind.

But overnight, support for Bergoglio grew and continued to climb during the two ballots on Wednesday morning and the first in the afternoon, he said.

By the day's final ballot, the fifth, Bergoglio had won, pulling in the votes not only of the Latin American cardinals but a large group loyal to Ratzinger that had supported Scola, Marroni said.