LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "This national unity is the only way to get Egypt out of this difficult crisis," Morsi said in a speech broadcast on television.

Morsi paid special tribute to those "martyrs" who helped spearhead the revolution that led to the ouster of Egypt's longtime President Hosni Mubarak, expressing thanks and admiration for the military personnel, police officers, judges and others in the Egyptian government for all of their hard work. "I must salute them because they have a role in the future" of Egypt, Morsi said.

Morsi promised that his administration "will preserve all national and international agreements." The international community held this in high concern, as to how Egypt would maintain ties with neighboring Israel. Morsi also promised to "protect the rights of women and children," as well as Christians and Muslims alike.

Election officials said that Morsi earned more than 13 million votes in last week's presidential election. The only other contender, Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister to serve under Mubarak won more than 12 million, 52 percent of the vote went to Morsi, while Shafik got just over 48 percent.

Cheers and celebratory gunfire echoed throughout Cairo's Tahrir Square, the hub of last year's revolution, with temperatures soaring near 100 degrees. Similar rallies erupted in Alexandria as well.

"We've been waiting for it for 7,000 years," Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party said. "For the first time in history, we have our own president, elected by us. The power of the people is now in the hands of the president -- and the president has to go and move forward."

Added another man celebrating in Tahrir Square, "What we are happy for is Egyptian people could overcome the remnants of the last regime."

Shafik supporters were very disappointed by the news. Egypt still does not have a constitution, while military rulers dissolved parliament in the wake of a controversial and pivotal court ruling earlier this month.

The presidency as currently defined is largely a figurehead position as the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces maintains much of the control over the country, as it has since Mubarak's exit.

"(Morsi) doesn't have the power -- SCAF has the power," one young Egyptian man sighed.

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