US Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church today. Henceforth he will be taking the name Pope Leo XIV. After serving as missionary and archbishop in Peru, Prevost presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms of Pope Francis’s pontificate, for the first time appointing women to an influential body involved in the nomination of bishops.
He was confirmed by senior cardinal Dominique Mamberti, who came out onto the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to announce the pontiff to cheering crowds.
Announcing the news, he said the famous Latin words “Habemus Papam”, meaning “we have a pope,” as thousands gathered in the square below.
The 69-year-old will take the name Leo XIV, and in his first public words as pope, said: “May peace be with all of you.”
Speaking of Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, the pontiff said: “The pope that blessed Rome gave his blessing to the whole world on that Easter morning. So let us follow up that blessing.”
He then added: “Together, we must try to find out how to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, establishes dialogues.”That’s always open to receive, on this piazza with open arms, to be able to receive everybody that needs our charity, our presence, dialogue and love.”
He went on to speak in Spanish, nodding to his time as a missionary, and said: “I would particularly like to say hello to my compatriots from Peru.
“It was a great pleasure for me to work in Peru.”
Pope Leo then said: “Let us pray together for this new mission, for the whole church.
“And for peace throughout the world. And let’s ask for this special grace from Mary, our mother.”
To be elected, the new pontiff had to win a two-thirds majority (89 votes). Afterwards, he was asked whether he accepted the papacy and by which name he wished to be known.
When the pope was chosen, the ballots were burned in a stove with an additive to produce white smoke that billowed from a chimney to alert onlookers that the decision had been made.
Previously, the ballots were burned with an additive to produce black smoke, indicating that the pope had not yet been chosen.
About the New Pope
Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1955.
Prevost earned his bachelor’s in mathematics from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and went on to receive his diploma in theology from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.
He was later sent to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical Saint Thomas Aquinas University and was ordained as a priest in June 1982. Later in his career, he taught canon law in the seminary in Trujillo, Peru.
While it is often said cardinal electors would always shy away from choosing a pope from the US due to America’s outsized global political influence, Prevost’s long experience in Peru may have mitigated those fears among the electors.
“Prevost is somebody who is seen as an exceptional leader. From very young, he was appointed to leadership roles,” Allen said. “He’s seen as somebody who is calm and balanced, who is even-handed, and who is very clear on what he thinks needs to be done… but he’s not overly forceful in trying to make that happen.”
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo, was born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago (Illinois, United States). IN 1977 he entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.) in the province of Our Lady of Good Counsel, in Saint Louis. On 29 August 1981 he gave his solemn vows. He studied at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago, receiving a diploma in theology.
What you need to know
• First American pope: Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States has been selected as the next pope, the first American pontiff in history. He will be known as Pope Leo XIV. In his first remarks as pope from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he called for peace and paid tribute to the late Pope Francis to a roaring crowd.
• About the new pope: Prevost, a 69-year-old from Chicago, is a leader with global experience. He spent much of his career as a missionary in South America and served as bishop in Peru. He most recently led a powerful Vatican office for bishop appointments. He is expected to build on Pope Francis’ reforms.
• What it took to get elected: There were 133 voting cardinals and any one of them needed two-thirds of the vote to become the next pope. White smoke billowed above the Sistine Chapel earlier this afternoon signaling the selection of a new pontiff. Take a look at how the voting process worked.
At the age of 27 he was sent by the Order to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical Saint Thomas Aquinas University (Angelicum). He received priestly ordination on 19 June 1982. He received his licentiate in 1984, and was then sent to work in the mission of Chulucanas, in Piura, Peru (1985-1986).
In 1987 he was awarded a doctorate with the thesis: “The role of the local prior in the Order of Saint Augustine”. In the same year he was elected director of vocations and director of the missions of the Augustinian province of “Mother of Good Counsel” of Olympia Fields, Illinois, United States of America. In 1988 he was sent to the mission of Trujillo as director of the joint formation project for Augustinian aspirants in the Vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos and Apurímac. There he served as community prior (1988-1992), director of formation (1988-1998) and teacher of the professed (1992-1998). In the archdiocese of Trujillo he was judicial vicar (1989-1998), and professor of canon, patristic and moral law in the “San Carlos e San Marcelo” Major Seminary.
In 1999 he was elected provincial prior of the “Mother of Good Counsel” province, Chicago. After two and a half years, the ordinary general Chapter elected him prior general, a ministry again entrusted to him in the 2007 ordinary general Chapter. In October 2013 he returned to his province (Chicago) to serve as teacher of the professed and provincial vicar, roles he held 3 November 2014, when Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, elevating him to the dignity of bishop and assigning him the titular diocese of Sufar. On 7 November he took canonical possession of the diocese in the presence of the apostolic nuncio James Patrick Green; he was ordained a bishop on 12 December, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the cathedral of his diocese. He served as bishop of Chiclayo from 26 November 2015. In March 2018 he became second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019, and member of the Congregation for Bishops in 2020.
On 15 April 2020, the Pope appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese of Callao.
On 30 January 2023 Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Prevost as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
The Global African Times Magazine & Media wishes the New Pope a peaceful and impactful tenure.
Source: The Vatican
