VATICAN CITY : Cardinal Robert Prevost, a missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and leads the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.
Prevost, 69, took the name Leo XIV.
Cardinal Robert Prevost OSA has been elected the 267th Pope, taking the name Pope Leo XIV.
The American cardinal is considered a balanced moderate known for his solid judgement and his capacity to listen.
Prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops, he is aged 69. From his first appearance on the balcony, it was clear he had decided unlike Francis to wear the traditional papal robes, indicating he will balance reform with stability and will have the emphasis on unitu and evangelisation that emerged as what the cardinal electors were looking for in the general congregations that preceeded the conclave.
In his first apostolic blessing, Urbi et Orbi – to the city and to the world – delivered in Italian while the crowds cheered, he said the traditional “peace be with you”, the peace of Christ resurrected “which comes from God who loves all of us unconditionally”.
He continued: “God loves all of us and evil will not prevail. We are all in the hands of God.” Christ walks before us and the world needs his light, he said, urging everyone to help each other. “We must build bridges together with dialogue… become one simple people in peace.” He added: “We must be a missionary church together.”
He thanked the cardinals and also paid tribute his predecessor Pope Francis, who he was close to.
Cardinal Prevost served as a missionary bishop in Peru, where sources today told The Tablet they were delighted he had been elected. “He was very close to the faithful when he was in Peru,” a source said. At the end of his blessing, he spoke in Spanish, one of the many languages in which he is fluent, thanking all those from Peru who had travelled to Rome for the conclave.
He said he wanted to lead a missionary and a synodal church that is “close to the people who suffer”.
The white smoke appeared shortly after 5pm – 6:08pm Rome time – which was over half an hour beyond the time of 4:30pm when it was thought the fourth vote would have taken place.
His election and name was announced by the French prelate Cardinal Protodeacon Mamberti at the Loggia of Blessings to announce with the traditional formula: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus Papam!” (“I announce to you a great joy: We have a Pope!”)
Before he proceeded to the Loggia, Pope Leo XIV stopped to pray before the Blessed Sacrament in the Pauline Chapel, where the newly-elected Pope Francis was said to have had a spiritual experience that transformed him from a priest known to be somewhat dour and determined, to the joyful shepherd with the “smell of the sheep” that the world came to know and love.
At the Dicastery for Bishops, Cardinal Prevost was charged with vetting candidates for the episcopacy, since he became its prefect in 2023.
Born in Chicago, he joined the Augustinians and after ordination in 1982 and further studies joined the order’s mission to Peru in 1985. He alternated between work with the mission and with the Augustinian province in Chicago until he was made the order’s prior general in 2001, holding the post until 2013. A year after that, Pope Francis made him Bishop of Chiclayo, in Peru.
Since succeeding Cardinal Marc Ouellet at the Dicastery of Bishops and becoming a cardinal shortly after, Prevost has led the search for candidates for the episcopate reflecting a more “pastoral” approach. He also faced a high-profile problem case soon after his appointment, directing the removal of the volatile Bishop Joseph Strickland from the Diocese of Tyler, Texas.Ada Derana
