VATICAN: Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States has been selected as the next pope, the first American pontiff in history and he will be called Pope Leo XIV.
There were 133 voting cardinals and any one of them needed two-thirds of the vote to become the next pope.
White smoke billowed above the Sistine Chapel earlier on Thursday afternoon signaling the selection of a new pontiff.
Prevost, a 69-year-old from Chicago, is a leader with global experience. He spent much of his career as a missionary in South America and served as bishop in Peru.
He most recently led a powerful Vatican office for bishop appointments. He is expected to build on Pope Francis’ reforms.
In his first words as pope, Leo XIV said to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square: “Peace be with you all.”
“This is the first greetings of the resurrected Christ, the good shepherd who has given up his life for God,” he said, explaining the choice of his greeting. “And I should also like this greeting of peace to enter our hearts and our families.”
Leo XIV looked visibly emotional as he waved to the adoring crowd in the square below the balcony.
Pope Leo XIV calls for church to build bridges and engage in dialogue
Pope Leo XIV outlined his vision for the Catholic Church as one that “builds bridges” and engages in conversation.
“We have to seek together to be a missionary church. A church that builds bridges and dialogue,” he said in his remarks on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica today.
The new pope also called on people to “show our charity” to others “and be in dialog with love,” according to an English translation.
Having spoken in Italian so far, Leo XIV just switched to Spanish one of several European languages he speaks — to address his “beloved diocese” in Peru.
Cardinal Robert Prevost, as he was known until this past hour, worked for a decade in Trujillo, Peru, and served as bishop of Chiclayo, another Peruvian city, from 2014 to 2023.
“To my dearest beloved diocese in Peru, where a faithful people accompanied their bishop to share their faith with him, and who have done so much to be a faithful church,” he said.
Leo XIV called on the Catholic church to be a “synodal” church, “one which goes forward and which always seeks peace and to be close to those who suffer.”
Leo XIV thanks his “cardinal brethren” for choosing him to be pope
During his remarks in Pope Leo XIV thanked his fellow cardinals for choosing him to lead the Catholic Church.
“I should also like to thank all my cardinal brethren who have chosen me to be the successor of Peter and to walk with you as a united church. Always seeking peace and justice. Seeking to work with men and women who are faithful to Jesus Christ without fear to proclaim the gospel to be missionaries,” he said.
Leo XIV pays tribute to Francis in first words as pope
Addressing the crowd in St Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to the late Pope Francis, urging the crowd to remember his predecessor’s legacy.
“Let us keep in our ears the weak voice of Pope Francis that blesses Rome. The Pope who blessed Rome, gave his blessing to the entire world that morning of Easter. Allow me to follow up on that blessing. God loves us. God loves everyone. Evil will not prevail,” he said in Italian while addressing the crowd gathered at the Vatican.
Robert Prevost’s journey from Chicago to Peru to pontiff
Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1955.
Prevost earned his bachelor’s in mathematics from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and went on to receive his diploma in theology from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.
He was later sent to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical Saint Thomas Aquinas University and was ordained as a priest in June 1982. Later in his career, he taught canon law in the seminary in Trujillo, Peru.
While it is often said cardinal electors would always shy away from choosing a pope from the US due to America’s outsized global political influence, Prevost’s long experience in Peru may have mitigated those fears among the electors.
“He’s somebody that, even though he’s from the West, would be very attentive to the needs of a global church,” said Elise Allen, CNN’s Vatican analyst. “You’re talking about somebody who spent over half of his ecclesial career abroad as a missionary in Peru.”
Allen added that he is seen as an apt leader in Vatican circles because “he’s able to accomplish things without necessarily being authoritarian about the way he did things.”
“Prevost is somebody who is seen as an exceptional leader. From very young, he was appointed to leadership roles,” Allen said. “He’s seen as somebody who is calm and balanced, who is even-handed, and who is very clear on what he thinks needs to be done… but he’s not overly forceful in trying to make that happen.
