Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost of america seems on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, on the Vatican, Might 8, 2025.
Guglielmo Mangiapane | Reuters
Roman Catholic cardinals chosen Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the brand new pope on Thursday, the primary time an American has been chosen as pontiff.
Prevost, 69, selected the papal identify Leo XIV.
A Chicago native who spent a lot of his ministry in Peru, Prevost was chosen on the second day and fourth poll of the cardinals’ conclave.
His election was introduced by Cardinal Dominique Mamberti greater than an hour after cardinals signaled his election with plumes of white smoke billowing from a chimney on the Sistine Chapel in Vatican Metropolis.
Individuals react after Cardinal Dominique Mamberti introduced the election of Cardinal Robert F. Prevost because the 267th pope, selecting the identify of Pope Leo XIV, on the Vatican, Thursday, Might 8, 2025.
Luca Bruno | AP
Pope Leo, who’s a member of the Augustinian Order, appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the place he addressed a big crowd gathered within the large sq. under in each Italian and Spanish. He didn’t communicate in English.
The prior pontiff, Pope Francis, died April 21 at age 88.
In latest Vatican conclaves, the brand new pope’s identify was introduced between 25 minutes and 66 minutes after white smoke was seen above the Sistine Chapel. White smoke was seen at about 12:07 p.m. ET.
Pope Leo is the 267th Roman Catholic pontiff, the non secular chief of greater than 1 billion Catholics worldwide. Popes are thought-about successors to St. Peter, one of many 12 apostles of Jesus Christ.
Pope Leo in February tweeted a Nationwide Catholic Reporter article rebuking U.S. Vice President JD Vance — who’s a convert to Catholicism. The article was headlined, “JD Vance is flawed: Jesus would not ask us to rank our love for others.”
Earlier than his election, Leo headed the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops, which advises the pope on appointments of bishops, who lead the world’s Catholic dioceses.
Leo was made a cardinal in 2023.
He’s a graduate of Villanova College in Philadelphia, the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
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