The Catholic Church has a new pope, and he’s the first American to hold the role.
White smoke appeared around 10 a.m. MDT on Thursday, signaling that the 133 cardinals sequestered in the Sistine Chapel had chosen Pope Francis’ successor.
A little more than an hour later, the new pope appeared on the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
He is Cardinal Robert Prevost, a 69-year-old from Chicago. Before the conclave, he worked at the Vatican selecting and managing Catholic bishops, and he was very close to Pope Francis.
“A member of the Order of St. Augustine, he resembles Francis in his commitment to the poor and migrants and to meeting people where they are,” The New York Times reported, noting that he worked in Peru for two decades and is seen “as a churchman who transcends borders.”
Cardinal Prevost chose the name Leo XIV.
He appeared emotional when he emerged on the balcony and was met with deafening cheers.
He greeted the crowd by saying “Peace be with you” in Italian and then delivered a brief address in Italian and Spanish.
Pope Leo XIV spoke about the importance of unity among Catholics and of drawing close to people who are suffering.
He switched from Italian to Spanish to recall his “many years spent as a missionary and then archbishop of Chiclayo, Peru,” per The Associated Press.
New pope a surprise pick
The election of Pope Leo is surprising for a number of reasons.
For one thing, it happened faster than most Vatican watchers expected, coming during the fourth round of voting, which took place about 24 hours after the conclave began.
Some experts had predicted that cardinals would need longer than that to come to a consensus since there were so many new faces at this week’s conclave.
To be elected as pope, Pope Leo had to receive at least two-thirds of the vote.
Thursday’s result is also surprising because Cardinal Prevost was not considered a front-runner heading into the conclave.
Until Thursday, it was taken for granted that an American Catholic leader would never be pope, according to the Rev. Thomas Reese, an American priest who writes about the Catholic Church for Religion News Service.
“Most of us thought a U.S. cardinal would never become pope, but Prevost got strong support from cardinals from Latin America where he worked for 20 years,” the Rev. Reese said.
In other words, Pope Leo may have been elected despite being American, not because of it. He likely benefited from his work in Peru, as well as at the Vatican.
“If Prevost was Italian, he would have been on everyone’s list because of his position as head of the Vatican office that nominates candidates for the episcopacy,” the Rev. Reese said.
Robert Prevost’s background
Pope Leo was born in Chicago and attended college at Villanova University in Philadelphia, where he received a math degree in 1977.
“Following his undergraduate studies at Villanova, Prevost earned a Master of Divinity degree from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in 1982 and was ordained a priest the same year,” per NBC 10 Philadelphia.
He belongs to — and previously led — the Order of St. Augustine, a Catholic order dedicated to serving others, eradicating poverty and evangelism, according to the AP.
He was made a cardinal by Pope Francis less than two years ago, The New York Times reported.
