Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has just been elected as the next pope, marking the first ever American pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church.
Following his election, 69-year-old Prevost will now be known as Pope Leo XIV.
The Church announced the election of Pope Leo XIV shortly after white smoke began pouring from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City on Thursday.
Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti announced Prevost’s election as pope to the thousands of faithful who descended on St. Peter’s Square.
The 133 voting cardinals deliberated in the Sistine Chapel for roughly 24 hours.
Leo XIV succeeds the late Pope Francis.
Francis died at age 88 on April 21 following health challenges.
Pope Leo XIV was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois.
He is also a citizen of Peru, where he lived for years as a missionary and later as an archbishop.
Francis brought Prevost to the Vatican in 2023 to serve as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations from around the world.
The position is one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church.
As a result, Prevost had a prominence going into the conclave that few other cardinals have.
Cardinal Prevost has said little on key issues of the church, but some of his positions are known.
He is reportedly very close to Francis’s liberal vision regarding “climate change,” outreach to the poor, and open borders.
In 2024, he said, “The bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom”.
He also supported Pope Francis’s stance on allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion.
However, he only showed mild support for Francis allowing priests to bless same-sex couples.
Ahead of the conclave, he was being promoted as a “compromise candidate” for the papacy.
The amount of time he has spent in Peru also allows him to be seen as a more universal candidate rather than an American.
The world learned a new pope had been chosen at around 6.08 pm local time on Thursday as white smoke suddenly emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
JUST IN: First ever American pope elected, Robert F. Prevost.
— You Are The Media Now (@UAreMedia) May 8, 2025
The 133 cardinals sequestered in the chapel picked the new leader of the Catholic Church on the second day of the conclave.
As the smoke appeared, cheers went up in St Peter’s Square, where thousands of people had gathered in the hope of witnessing history.
Just over an hour later, Pope Leo was introduced on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica as a crowd of an estimated 50,000 people looked on.
President Donald Trump has issued a statement to congratulate the new pope.
“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope.
“What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country.
“I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV.
“It will be a very meaningful moment!”
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 8, 2025
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