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American-born Robert Francis Prevost has been elected as the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He will take the name Pope Leo XIV. The announcement came following the third round of voting by cardinals during the secretive conclave in Vatican City.
Prevost becomes the first American ever to assume the papacy, challenging centuries-old assumptions about the unlikelihood of a U.S. cardinal rising to the role.
Born in Chicago, 69-year-old Robert Prevost is a polyglot and a veteran churchman with extensive international experience. Though American by birth, he is widely regarded as a transnational spiritual leader. Prevost spent two decades in Peru, where he served as a bishop and even became a Peruvian citizen.
He later rose to lead the global Augustinian order and, most recently, oversaw one of the Vatican’s most powerful departments—the Dicastery for Bishops—responsible for selecting and managing bishops worldwide.
A member of the Order of St. Augustine, Prevost is known for his commitment to the poor and migrants. His approach echoes that of Pope Francis, particularly in his emphasis on meeting people “where they are.”
In a 2024 interview with the Vatican News, he stated, “A bishop should not be a little prince ruling from his throne.”
Fluent in Spanish and Italian, Prevost has spent most of his clerical life outside the United States, gaining respect across cultures and communities.
While admired for his pastoral sensitivity, Pope Leo XIV has shown signs of conservatism. In a 2012 address to bishops, he voiced concerns over Western media's “sympathy” toward values inconsistent with Scripture, citing “homosexual lifestyles” and “alternative family models.”
Prevost has also faced scrutiny, like many senior clergy, over past decisions involving priests accused of sexual abuse.
For the first time in history, the Vatican will be led by a man from the United States. The symbolic weight of this shift is not lost on observers.
One Roman teenager in St. Peter’s Square commented, “With Trump and all the nationalism in the U.S., maybe an American pope can help bridge Europe and America.”
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