Conclave Elects American Robert Prevost As New Pope, Will Take The Name Pope Leo XIV

Doha, Qatar: Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was today, May 8, elected as the new pope - the first pope from the United States, announced the Vatican.

He becomes the Catholic Church's 267th pontiff, and will soon step onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica as the new leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

Prevost, 69, from Chicago, Illinois, will be known as Leo XIV.

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost / Image: Vatican News

Soft-spoken Prevost is first pope from the United States

Vatican City: Robert Francis Prevost, the first pope from the United States, has a history of missionary work in Peru but also a keen grasp of the inner workings of the Church.

The new Leo XIV, a Chicago native, was entrusted by his predecessor Francis to head the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, charged with advising the pontiff on new bishop appointments.

The sign of confidence from Francis speaks to Prevost's commitment as a missionary in Peru to the "peripheries" -- overlooked areas far from Rome prioritised by Francis -- and his reputation as a bridge-builder and moderate within the Curia.

The 69-year-old Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo, Peru, was made a cardinal by Francis in 2023 after being named prefect of the dicastery, one of the Vatican's most important departments -- and a post that introduced him to all key players in the Church.

Vatican watchers had given Prevost the highest chances among the group of US cardinals of being pope, given his pastoral bent, global view and ability to navigate the central bureaucracy.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica called him "the least American of the Americans" for his soft-spoken touch.

His strong grounding in canon law has also been seen as reassuring to more conservative cardinals seeking a greater focus on theology.

Born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Prevost attended a minor seminary of the Order of St Augustine in St Louis as a novice before graduating from Philadelphia's Villanova University, an Augustinian institution, with a degree in mathematics.

After receiving a masters degree in divinity from Chicago's Catholic Theological Union in 1982, and a doctorate decree in canon law in Rome, the polyglot joined the Augustinians in Peru in 1985 for the first of his decade-long missions in that country.

Returning to Chicago in 1999, he was made provincial prior of the Augustinians in the US Midwest and later the prior general of the order throughout the world. But he returned to Peru in 2014 when Francis appointed him as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo in the country's north.

Prevost also serves as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. (AFP)

• White smoke signals new pope elected: AFP

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