Seven years ago, the newly-elected Pope Francis urged Turkey to unconditionally recognize the Armenian Genocide.

During events marking the 91st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Buenos Aires, then Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio urged Turkey to recognize the Genocide as the “gravest crime of Ottoman Turkey against the Armenian people and the entire humanity.”

On Wednesday, after what is viewed as a short conclave, white smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel heralded that a gathering of Catholic cardinals picked a new pope, choosing the first pontiff from the Americas to lead the Roman Catholic Church.

The 76-year-old pope will be called Francis, the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church and the first member of the Jesuit order to lead the church and the first none-European pope in more than 1,200 years.

“I would like to thank you for your embrace,” the new pope, dressed in white, said from the white balcony on St. Peter’s Basilica as thousands cheered joyously below. “My brother cardinals have chosen one who is from far away, but here I am,” reported the New York Times.

“Pray for me, and we’ll see each other soon,” the pope told the crowd of more than 100,000 gathered at St. Peter’s Square.