The Vatican Has Elected A New Pope

• 8.05.2025, 20:21

It was a cardinal from the United States.

On May 8, the Vatican announced the name of the new pope. He is Cardinal Robert Prevost of American-Peruvian descent.

He will take the name Leo XIV.

He is the first ever pontiff from the United States.

Pope Leo XIV urged people to "be one people" and noted that Pope Francis' faint voice in the last days of his life was still heard in the world. The pontiff wished people would "build bridges."

Prevost spent most of his career as a missionary in South America and most recently headed the Vatican's office for the appointment of bishops.

He is expected to build on Pope Francis' reforms.

Robert Francis Prevo was born Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago. In June 1982, he was ordained a priest. In September 2023, he became a cardinal. From then until February of this year, he was a cardinal-deacon with the titular diaconate of Santa Monica.

Pope Leo XIV, although born in the United States, speaks Italian and Spanish, but not English.

Earlier on May 8, the Vatican concluded a conclave at which the cardinals of the Catholic Church elected a new pontiff. This was heralded by white smoke from a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, a symbol that one of the candidates had won more than two-thirds of the votes to become the new pope.

The conclave began on the evening of May 7 and lasted just over one day. The pope was elected on the fourth attempt.

The previous head of the Roman Catholic Church, Francis, died April 21 of a stroke, he was 88. He was buried on April 26. The coffin with the pontiff's body was placed in a crypt in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. He had led the church since 2013.