Robert Prevost has become the first US leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church – taking the name Pope Leo XIV and telling the world: “Peace be with you all!”
Prevost had to overcome the taboo against a US pope, given the geopolitical power already wielded by the United States in the secular sphere, but was able to do so after the fourth vote of the secretive conclave that chooses the pontiff. White smoke billowed from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel, signifying the 133 cardinal electors had made their decision after two days of ballots.
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Pope Leo, appeared on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica about an hour after the smoke went up at around 6pm local time. “Peace be with you all,” the new pope told the cheering crowd, speaking in fluent Italian. He also spoke in Spanish during his brief address but did not say anything in English.
The late Pope Francis brought the 69-year-old to the Vatican in 2023 as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church. Originally from Chicago, Prevost has spent most of his career as a missionary in Peru. He has given few media interviews and rarely speaks in public.
President Donald Trump swiftly congratulated Prevost: “What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!” Other world leaders from Sir Keir Starmer in the UK to Vladimir Putin in Russia also lined up to congratulate Prevost.
Prevost becomes the 267th Catholic pope after the death last month of Pope Francis, who was the first Latin American pope and had led the Church for 12 years and widely sought to open the staid institution up to the modern world.
Francis enacted a range of reforms and allowed debate on divisive issues such as women’s ordination and better inclusion of LGBT+ Catholics.
Leo thanked Francis in his speech and repeated his predecessor’s call for a Church that is engaged with the modern world and “is always looking for peace, charity and being close to people, especially those who are suffering”.
The last pope to take the name Leo led the Church from 1878-1903 and was known for his devoted focus to social justice issues, and is often credited with laying the foundation for modern Catholic social teaching.
Prevost has attracted interest from his peers because of his quiet style and support for Francis, especially his commitment to social justice issues.
It was the largest and most diverse conclave to decide the next pope in its centuries-old history, with many of the appointees, from 70 countries, picked by Pope Francis himself.
On Wednesday morning, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said the election of the new pope “is not a simple succession of persons”, in his homily during Mass at St Peter’s Basilica.
He urged cardinals to pray, for a pope “who knows how best to awaken the consciences of all and the moral and spiritual energies in today’s society.”
“May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, intercede with her maternal intercession, so that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the minds of the Cardinal electors and help them agree on the Pope that our time needs,” he said.
While the conclave for the late Pope Francis lasted two days, the longest in history lasted nearly three years with the election of Pope Gregory X in 1271.
Once a cardinal achieves the required 89 votes, he is asked if he accepts the role, and once he says yes, he must choose a papal name.
Then, he is taken to a small chamber off the Sistine Chapel called the “Room of Tears”, named for the emotional weight of the responsibility ahead, where he puts on the white papal vestments.
Unlike Francis, who spurned much of the trappings of the papacy, Prevost wore a traditional red papal garment over his white cassock.
Prevost was twice elected prior general, or top leader, of the Augustinians, the 13th century religious order founded by St. Augustine. Francis clearly had an eye on him for years, moving him from the Augustinian leadership back to Peru in 2014 to serve as the administrator and later archbishop of Chiclayo.
He remained in that position, acquiring Peruvian citizenship in 2015, until Francis brought him to Rome in 2023 to assume the presidency of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. In that job he would have kept in regular contact with the Catholic hierarchy in the part of the world that counts the most Catholics.
Ever since arriving in Rome, Prevost has kept a low public profile, but he was well known to the men who count.
Significantly, he presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms Francis made, when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope. In early 2025, Francis again showed his esteem by appointing Prevost to the most senior rank of cardinals.
The bells of the cathedral in Peru’s capital of Lima tolled after Prevost’s election was announced. People outside the church expressed their desire for a papal visit at one point.
“For us Peruvians, it is a source of pride that this is a pope who represents our country,” said elementary school teacher Isabel Panez, who happened to be near the cathedral when the news was announced. “We would like him to visit us here in Peru.”
The Rev Fidel Purisaca Vigil, the communications director for Prevost’s old diocese in Chiclayo, remembers the cardinal rising each day and having breakfast with his fellow priests after saying his prayers.
“No matter how many problems he has, he maintains good humor and joy,” Rev Purisaca told the Associated Press.
While his public comments have been rare, Prevost said during a 2023 Vatican press conference: “Our work is to enlarge the tent and to let everyone know they are welcome inside the Church.”
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
