Italian bishops email papal congratulations to wrong man

Italian cardinal Angelo Scola attends a mass at St. Peter's basilica before the conclave on March 12, 2013 at the Vatican. / GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images

MILAN, Italy Italian bishops were quick to congratulate the new pope. Too quick: They got the wrong man.

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Archbishop Angelo Scola

The Italian Bishops' Conference Wednesday sent a congratulatory email to one of their own, Milan's Cardinal Angelo Scola — tipped as a hot conclave favorite.

They quickly corrected themselves and issued a new message to the real winner, Argentine Jorge Bergoglio.

Conventional wisdom had it that a quick result — and this conclave was quick, with the white smoke coming on just the second day — could only mean consensus had built around a top name.

Churches in Milan also seem to have gotten it wrong: They sent bells pealing shortly before the announcement "Habemus Papam!" — "We have a pope!"

Once again, the old adage holds: Enter the conclave a pope, leave a cardinal.

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[judymar14]

lol!