Dominique Mamberti: who is the French-Moroccan cardinal who announced Habemus Papam
Marrakech-born Cardinal Dominique Mamberti pronounced Habemus Papam. Find out about his journey and his appointment as a cardinal.
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Key points
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"Habemus Papam" is the formula that announces the election of a new Pope and breaks the anticipation that is generated at the beginning of the Conclave.
The Cardinal Protodeacon who uttered the phrase at the end of the Conclave that chose Bergoglio's successor was Dominique Mamberti, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.
He was the second consecutive French 'announcer' after Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran announced the election of Pope Francis in 2013.
Dominique Mamberti was born in Morocco
.He was born in Marrakech, in the archdiocese of Rabat, Morocco, on 7 March 1952, to French parents who had moved to the country shortly after his birth. After completing his secondary schooling, he enrolled at the Faculty of Law in Strasbourg, then attended postgraduate courses at the University of Paris II, obtaining higher degrees in public law and political science.
He entered the French Pontifical Seminary in Rome and was ordained a priest for the diocese of Ajaccio (Corsica) on 20 September 1981. Called to attend courses at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, he continued his training at the Pontifical Gregorian University - where he had already been a student in the faculties of philosophy and theology - and obtained a degree in canon law under the direction of the Jesuit Ignacio Gordon and Monsignor Bernard de Lanversin.
