Cardinal Robert Prevost announced as first American pope, taking name Leo XIV
The Vatican announced the election of Pope Leo XIV shortly after white smoke blew from the roof of the Sistine Chapel
What to know
- The conclave chose American-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost to be the next pope. He will be known as Pope Leo XIV.
- Leo is the first pope to have been born in the United States. He is also a citizen of Peru, where he has spent much of his life.
- He was elected leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics on the second day of the conclave, by 133 red-robed cardinals who were sequestered in the Sistine Chapel.
CONCLAVE QUICK RECAP
- American Cardinal Robert F. Prevost has taken the name Leo XIV after being elected as the 267th pontiff of the Holy Catholic Church.
- College of Cardinals elected the 267th pope on Thursday
- The College of Cardinals began meeting in Vatican City Wednesday, May 7, 2025, to elect a new pope as the Bishop of Rome.
- A papal conclave is an ancient electoral process through the Catholic Church where those under the age of 80 in the College of Cardinals vote to elect a new pontiff.
- The conclave began in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel where cardinals are being kept in strict isolation to keep them far from any outside influence from the rest of the world.
- Pope Francis, the 266th Vicar of Christ, was elected in 2013 and died on April 21, 2025.
- The College of Cardinals signaled to the world that a new pope had been selected when white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
The late Pope Francis greeted, at the time, USA Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost during the Mass on the Jubilee of The Armed Forces, Police and Security Personnel at St. Peter’s Square on February 09, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican.(Photo by Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) welcomed Pope Leo XIV as the leader of the Church and offered prayers of thanksgiving for his election to the post.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of USCCB, issued a statement about Pope Leo XIV’s election on behalf of the organization.
“In communion with Catholics around the world, the bishops of the United States offer prayers of thanksgiving for the election of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV,” the statement read. “In my lifetime, the Church has been blessed with a series of popes each uniquely prepared for his particular moment in history yet sharing a common mission to proclaim the ageless truth of the Gospel.
“I rejoice in the international experience of the new Bishop of Rome who has been a student and superior in Rome, a bishop in Peru, and charged with the Dicastery for Bishops,” Broglio continued. “Certainly, we rejoice that a son of this Nation has been chosen by the cardinals, but we recognize that he now belongs to all Catholics and to all people of good will.
“His words advocating peace, unity, and missionary activity already indicate a path forward,” he added. “Trusting in the Holy Spirit, we also pray that the Holy Father, as the successor of St. Peter, will enjoy serenity in his ministry and be a watchful and wise shepherd who will confirm us in our faith and fill the world with the hope inspired by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The Chicago Diocese will hold a Mass of Thanksgiving for the Election of Pope Leo XIV on Friday at 8 a.m. at the Holy Name Cathedral, which will be led by Bishop Lawrence J. Sullivan, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Robert Francis Prevost becomes first U.S.-born pope
Bishop Robert Barron of the Winona-Rochester, Minnesota diocese on Thursday shared his reaction to Pope Leo XIV’s election.
Appearing on Bret Baier’s “Special Report,” Barron said he was that the election happened so quickly. He said he was, like many others, initially doubtful that an American would ever get elected pope.
“We were all flabbergasted to hear it was an American. After the shock of it all wore off, you look at this figure and you say, ‘well, in many ways, he’s an obvious choice,’” Barron said. “[He’s got] an extraordinary range of administrative experience, in missionary work, in canon law, running a worldwide order of the Augustinians, and then being a prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops, which means he had contacts all over the world.”
Bishop Robert Barron of the Winona-Rochester, Minnesota diocese on Thursday shared his reaction to Pope Leo XIV’s election.
Appearing on Bret Baier’s “Special Report,” Barron said he was that the election happened so quickly. He said he was, like many others, initially doubtful that an American would ever get elected pope.
“We were all flabbergasted to hear it was an American. After the shock of it all wore off, you look at this figure and you say, ‘well, in many ways, he’s an obvious choice,’” Barron said. “[He’s got] an extraordinary range of administrative experience, in missionary work, in canon law, running a worldwide order of the Augustinians, and then being a prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops, which means he had contacts all over the world.”
Pope Leo XIV, who graduated from Villanova University in 1977, also received an honorary degree from Merrimack College, both of which are the only two higher education institutions established in the U.S. by the Order of St. Augustine.
After learning that its honorary alumnus had been appointed to serve as the 267th pope, Merrimack College turned to X to honor Pope Leo XIV.
“Merrimack offers its congratulations and joyful prayers to Pope Leo XIV, the first American and Augustinian pontiff,” the college posted on X. “In 2005, when he served as Prior General of the Augustinians, then Rev. Robert F. Prevost, O.S.A., visited MC, celebrated Mass and received an honorary degree.”
According to Boston 25 in Massachusetts, Pope Leo XIV was recognized in 2005 by Merrimack College for his work in Augustinian education.
Father Ray Dlugos serves as the Vice President of Mission and Ministry at the college, which is just one of two Augstinian colleges in the country.
“I was in at least two or three philosophy classes with him, and from that experience I can, and I’m going to betray my Philadelphia roots and become a New Englander, I can tell you he is wicked smart!” Dlugos told the station.
The former cardinal attended Holy Mass, celebrated for his eventual election as the new pope in St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, May 7, 2025. (REUTERS/Murad Sezer)
Pope Leo XIV, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Peru, once delivered food and blankets to remote Andean villages using a white pickup truck.
Becoming the first pope to ever come from the U.S. and Peru, Pope Leo XIV, who’s birth name is Robert Prevost, served as a missionary in Peru, as well as a bishop.
Specifically, Prevost spent time in Chiclayo, which has a population of over 800,000 and plays a vital role as the main commercial hub of Peru’s northern coast. Highways link the city to the Andes mountains as well as the Amazon region.
In 2014, he served as the administrator and later bishop of Chiclayo, where he remained until Pope Francis summoned him to Rome in 2023 to serve as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations around the world, the Associated Press reported.
But before moving to Rome, Prevost delivered food and blankets to remote Andean villages, driving a pickup truck and sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor.
The villages, Janinna Sesa told the AP, would offer him food and he would eat whatever, including the peasant diet of potatoes, cheese and sweet corn.
He would sometimes enjoy carne asada – one of his favorite dishes – along with a glass of Coca-Cola.
“He has no problem fixing a broken-down truck until it runs,” Sesa said.
She also said Prevost was the force behind the purchase of two oxygen-production plants during the COVID-19 pandemic, which killed over 217,000 people in Peru.
“He worked so hard to find help, that there was not only enough for one plant, but for two oxygen plants,” she said. source