Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected pope
Robert Prevost has taken the name Leo XIV.
He is the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.
As a missionary, Prevost, 69, spent his career ministering in Peru and led the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops.
White smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney Thursday at 6:07 p.m. local time, signaling that a pontiff had been elected to lead the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis brought Prevost, a Chicago native, to the Vatican in 2023 to lead the office that vets bishop nominations, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church.
He kept a low public profile in Rome, but was well known to the men who count. Significantly, he presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms Francis made, when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope. In early 2025, Francis again showed his esteem by appointing Prevost to the most senior rank of cardinals.
