Habemus Papam! Pope Leo XIV elected successor of St Peter

He becomes the first North American to be elected pope.

The white smoke poured from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel at 6.07pm Rome time and a few minutes later the bells of St Peter’s Basilica began to ring.

French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, protodeacon of the College of Cardinals, appeared on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica at 7.12pm. He told the crowd: “I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope (‘Habemus papam’),” saying the cardinal’s name in Latin and announcing the name by which he will be called.

In his first words as pope, Leo XIV said to the crowd in St Peter’s Square: “Peace be with you all.

“This is the first greetings of the resurrected Christ, the good shepherd who has given up his life for God,” he said, explaining the choice of his greeting. “And I should also like this greeting of peace to enter our hearts and our families.”

A long-time missionary in Peru, the 69-year-old Pope holds both US and Peruvian citizenship.

La Repubblica, the major Italian daily, described him on April 25 as “cosmopolitan and shy”, but also said he was “appreciated by conservatives and progressives. He has global visibility in a conclave in which few (cardinals) know each other”.

That visibility comes from the fact that as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops for the past two years, he was instrumental in helping Pope Francis choose bishops for many Latin-rite dioceses, he met hundreds of bishops during their “ad limina” visits to Rome and was called to assist the world’s Latin-rite bishops “in all matters concerning the correct and fruitful exercise of the pastoral office entrusted to them”.

The new Pope was serving as Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, when Pope Francis called him to the Vatican in January 2023.

A Chicago native, he also served as prior general of the Augustinians and spent more than two decades serving in Peru, first as an Augustinian missionary and later as bishop of Chiclayo.

Pope Leo was born September 14, 1955, in Chicago. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the Augustinian-run Villanova University in Pennsylvania and joined the order in 1977, making his solemn vows in 1981. He holds a degree in theology from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

He joined the Augustinian mission in Peru in 1985 and largely worked in the country until 1999 when he was elected head of the Augustinians’ Chicago-based province. From 2001 to 2013, he served as prior general of the worldwide order. In 2014, Pope Francis named him bishop of Chiclayo, in northern Peru, and the Pope asked him also to be apostolic administrator of Callao, Peru, from April 2020 to May 2021.

The new Pope speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese and can read Latin and German.

The selection of the name Pope Leo XIV is an apparent nod to Pope Leo XIII, who deserves to be called the founding father of Catholic social doctrine in modern times, with his encyclical Rerum Novarum as its foundational document.

During a talk at St Jude Parish in Chicago, after Pope Francis appointed him as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, the then-Cardinal Prevost said Pope Francis nominated him “specifically because he did not want someone from the Roman Curia to take on this role. He wanted a missionary; he wanted someone from outside; he wanted someone who would come in with a different perspective”.

FULL STORY

First American elected pope: Cardinal Prevost takes name Leo XIV (By Cindy Wooden/CNS)

Leo XIV is the new Pope – Vatican News (Vatican News)

Live: Cardinal Robert Prevost from US named as Pope Leo XIV | RNZ News (Radio New Zealand)