Fully expecting to be returning to Buenos Aires after the conclave, Francis
had a flight booked from Rome next week, said Federico Wals, a spokesman for
the Catholic Church in Argentina.
Argentinian Church officials were so convinced that he stood zero chance of
being made the 266th Pope that were fully expecting him to celebrate Mass on
Easter Sunday.
Ordinary Argentinians were also stunned by the election of the archbishop of Buenos Aires as the successor to Benedict XVI.
"Even when we saw the white smoke on television, we thought the Brazilian or Italian candidate would win," said one Catholic, 33-year-old Mariano Solis, referring to Sao Paulo Archbishop Odilo Scherer and Milan Archbishop Angelo Scola.