Vatican Media
CV NEWS FEED // Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was today elected the 267th pope. He took the name Pope Leo XIV. He is the first pope from the United States.
The conclave, which began May 7, lasted just two days before concluding with Pope Leo’s election at 1:17 p.m. Eastern Time May 8. The late pontiff, Pope Francis, died April 21.
Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago in 1955.
CatholicVote previously reported that Pope Leo, the former prefect for the Congregation for Bishops, also served as prior general of the Augustinians in Chicago from 2001 to 2013. Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in January 2023, and as cardinal later that year.
According to his official College of Cardinals biography, Pope Leo also served for many years in Peru, joining the Augustinian mission there in 1985. He served as chancellor of the Territorial Prélature of Chulucanas from 1985 to 1986. He served various roles in the US before Pope Francis appointed him as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014, and then bishop of Chiclayo in 2015.
Addressing the crowd in St. Peter’s Square from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo XIV first said “Peace be with you.” In his message, he encouraged peace and dialogue “without fear,” the Associated Press reports.
He added that while he is an Augustinian priest, he is above all a Christian and a bishop, “so we can all walk together.”
“For you, I am a bishop. With you, I am a Christian,” he told the crowd, referencing a quotation from Saint Augustine of Hippo.
Then-Cardinal Prevost told Vatican News in October 2024 that a “bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom,” but rather is “ called authentically to be humble, to be close to the people he serves, to walk with them and to suffer with them.”
Catholic commentator Kelsey Reinhardt, who was present in St. Peter’s square when Pope Leo first emerged on the loggia, described the crowds as “electric” in the leadup to the announcement of the new pope.
