Cardinal Robert Prevost, an American, has been elected as the Catholic Church’s 267th leader. Following his election, Cardinal Prevost announced his papal name as Leo XIV.
According to reports, his election makes him the first American to hold the exalted office.
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Cardinal Dominique Mamberti announced the election of the new Pope by the conclave, which consisted of 133 Cardinals (senior members of the Catholic Church’s clergy) in the third round of Conclave (a College of Cardinals gathering) voting.
The College of Cardinals elected Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, to become the next leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. Nigeria’s Cardinal Peter Okpaleke qualified to be one of the College of Cardinals who determined the emergence of Pope Francis’s successor.
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The news came just over an hour after white smoke finally billowed from the Sistine Chapel late Thursday afternoon, signalling that the papal conclave had chosen a successor to Pope Francis, who died last month.
Pope Leo XIV
Born in 1955 in Chicago, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, joined the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977 and took his solemn vows in 1981.
He earned degrees in mathematics, divinity, and canon law, including a doctorate from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
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Prevost was ordained in 1982 and began his pastoral and academic service in Peru in 1985, where he served as chancellor, seminary rector, canon law professor, and judicial vicar.
In 1999, Prevost was elected Provincial Prior of the Augustinians in Chicago. A few years later, he became Prior General of the worldwide order, serving two terms until 2013.
At Pope Francis’ request, he returned to Peru to serve as apostolic administrator—and later bishop—of the Diocese of Chiclayo.
In January 2023, Pope Francis appointed Prevost prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a decisive Vatican role responsible for episcopal appointments worldwide.
He was made a cardinal in September of the same year.
READ ALSO:Robert Prevost becomes first American Pope, takes name Leo XVI
Historical Conclave
The papal conclave began Wednesday afternoon and lasted 25 hours, 37 minutes, and 58 seconds, one of the shortest recently.
Pope Benedict XVI was elected in 2005 after four ballots in two days, while Pope Francis was elected after five ballots in two days in 2013.
The shortest conclave in known history lasted just 10 hours and ended with Pope Julius II’s election in 1503.
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