Cardinal Robert Prevost elected as first American pope in history

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May 9, 2025 | 1:27am

MANILA, Philippines — (Updated 1:49 a.m.) Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost — who holds nationality in both the United States and Peru — emerged Thursday as Pope Leo XIV, embracing his new role as shepherd to 1.4 billion Catholics. 

Prevost, 69, received the necessary two-thirds majority on the fourth ballot of the conclave, with white smoke billowing from the Sistine Chapel chimney at around 12:08 a.m. (Philippine time) on May 9.

The election of the new pope came on the second day of deliberations among the 133 cardinal electors — the most diverse group ever to select a pontiff, with representatives from 70 countries.

The soft-spoken Chicago native breaks new ground as the first American to lead the Catholic Church, though Vatican observers have described him as "the least American of the Americans," with many noting his measured temperament and global perspective.

Prevost spent significant portions of his career as a missionary in Peru, becoming a naturalized citizen there and serving as Bishop of Chiclayo from 2014 to 2023.

The late Pope Francis tapped Prevost in 2023 to lead the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, the Vatican office that vets and recommends new bishop appointments worldwide — a position that gave him intimate knowledge of the Church's global leadership and operations. 

That appointment signaled Francis's confidence in Prevost's commitment to reaching the "peripheries" of Catholicism, a hallmark of the late pontiff's approach.

Augustinian pope 

The new pope — who appeared on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to the thunderous applause of scores of the faithful — brings both administrative acumen and pastoral experience to the role. 

Before his Vatican appointment, he led the worldwide Augustinian order for 12 years, managing communities across multiple continents. 

His academic background includes degrees in mathematics from Villanova University, theology from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and canon law from Rome's Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Challenges ahead. The new pontiff takes leadership of a Church that saw itself repositioned as a more pastoral and globally engaged institution during Francis' over decade-long papacy, yet facing persistent questions on doctrine and authority across continents. 

He inherits immediate challenges, including conflicts affecting Catholic communities in Ukraine and the Middle East, substantial Vatican financial deficits, and deep polarization between progressive and traditionalist factions within the Church.

"We can't stop, we can't turn back," Prevost told Vatican News last month after Francis's death. "We have to see how the Holy Spirit wants the Church to be today and tomorrow, because today's world, in which the Church lives, is not the same as the world of ten or 20 years ago." 

— with reports by Agence-France Presse