Robert Prevost, first American pope in history of the Catholic Church, will take the name Leo XIV

Associated Press
Thursday, May 8, 2025 12:01 a.m. | Thursday, May 8, 2025 12:01 a.m.

Go Ad-Free Today!

AP

Pope Leo XIV appears on the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica after being chosen the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, at the Vatican, Thursday.

AP

Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica after his election, at the Vatican, Thursday.

AP

Cardinal Robert Prevost appears on the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica after being chosen the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, choosing the name of Pope Leo XIV, at the Vatican, Thursday.

AP

Newly elected Pope Leone XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday.

AP

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, leads the recitation of the Holy Rosary for Pope Francis’ health in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican, March 3.

AP

New Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, stands for a portrait at the end of the consistory where Pope Francis elevated 21 new cardinals in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sept. 30, 2023.

AP

Cardinal Dominique Mamberti announces the election of the new pope, at the Vatican, Thursday.

AP

White smoke billows from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel during the conclave to elect a new pope, at the Vatican, Thursday.

AP

Faithful hold a banner reading “Up with the pope”, after white smoke billows from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel during the conclave to elect a new pope, at the Vatican, Thursday.

AP

People watch as white smoke billows from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel where 133 cardinals are gathering on the second day of the conclave to elect a successor to late Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Thursday.

AP

People react as white smoke billows from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel where 133 cardinals are gathering on the second day of the conclave to elect a successor to late Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Thursday.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV, the American Robert Prevost, said “Peace be with you” in his first words as pope, offering a message of peace and dialogue “without fear.”

From the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, history’s first American pope recalled he was an Augustinian priest, but that he was above all a Christian above all and a bishop, “So we can all walk together.”

He spoke in Italian and then switched to Spanish, recalling his many years spent as a missionary and then archbishop of Chiclayo, Peru.

Robert Prevost, a missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and leads the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.

Prevost, a 69 member of the Augustinian religious order, took the name Leo XIV. He appeared on the loggia of St. Peter’s Square wearing the traditional red cape of the papacy — a cape that Pope Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013.

Prevost had been a leading candidate except for his nationality. There had long been a taboo against a U.S. pope, given the geopolitical power already wielded by the United States in the secular sphere. But Prevost, a Chicago native, was seemingly eligible also because he’s a Peruvian citizen and lived for years in Peru, first as a missionary and then as an archbishop.

Francis clearly had his eye on Prevost and in many ways saw him as his heir apparent. He brought Prevost to the Vatican in 2023 to serve as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations from around the world, 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.

The crowd in St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers, priests made the sign of the cross and nuns wept as the crowd shouted “Viva il papa!” after the white smoke wafted into the late afternoon sky at 6:07 p.m. Waving flags from around the world, tens of thousands of people waited to learn who had won.