Vatican City (AP) – Robert Prevost, a missionary who spent his career serving in Peru and heads the powerful bishops of the Vatican, was elected the first American pope in the history of 2000 years of the Catholic Church.
PREVOST, a member 69 of the Augustinian religious order, took the name of Leo XIV. He appeared on the loggia of Saint -Pierre with the traditional red cape of the papacy – a cape that Pope Francis had avoided during his elections in 2013.
Watch live: Pope Leo XIV, very first American pontiff, appears for the first time
Prévost had been a leading candidate, with the exception of his nationality. There has long been a taboo against an American pope, given the geopolitical power already exercised by the United States in the secular sphere. But Prevost, originally from Chicago, was apparently eligible also because he is a Peruvian citizen and lived for years in Peru, first as a missionary and then archbishop.
Francis clearly had an eye on Prévost and in many ways saw him as his apparent heir. He brought prevost to the Vatican in 2023 to serve as a powerful head of the office who takes in sight the appointments of bishops around the world, one of the most important jobs of the Catholic Church. Consequently, Prevost was important in the conclave that few other cardinals have.
The crowd of St. Peter’s Square broke out in cheers, the priests made the sign of the cross and that the nuns were crying while the crowd shouted “viva il dad!” After the white smoke has traveled the end of the afternoon sky at 6:07 p.m., waving flags from around the world, tens of thousands of people waited to learn who had won.
Who is Cardinal Robert Prevost?
Cardinal Robert Prevost
Date of birth: September 14, 1955
Nationality: American and Peruvian
Position: Prefect of the dicastery for the bishops; President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America under François
Experience: Archbishop of Chiclayo, Peru; Chief of the Augustinian religious order
Make a cardinal by: Francis
Francis brought Prévost, 69, to the Vatican in 2023 to serve as a powerful head of the office who contravenes the appointments of bishops around the world, one of the most important jobs of the Catholic Church. Consequently, Prevost is important in the conclave that few other cardinals have.
Prévost was also elected twice to the general, or a high leader, of the Augustin religious order, the order of the 13th century founded by Saint-Augustin. Francis clearly had an eye on him for years, having him handed over Augustin in Peru in 2014 to serve as a administrator and later Archbishop of Chiclayo.
He remained in this position, acquiring Peruvian citizenship in 2015, until Francis had him brought to Rome in 2023 to assume the presidency of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. In this work, he would have kept regular contact with the Catholic hierarchy in the part of the world which still has the most Catholics.
Since his arrival in Rome, Prevost has kept a low public profile, but he is well known to the men who count.
Significantly, he chaired one of the most revolutionary reforms made when he added three women to the voting block which decides which bishop appointments to transmit to the Pope. At the beginning of 2025, Francis again showed his esteem by appointing pre-nomination at the highest rank of the cardinals, suggesting that he would at least be the choice of Francis in a future conclave.
Prevost’s comparative youth could count against him if his cardinal brothers do not want to engage in a pope who could reign for two other decades.
The Reverend Fidel Purisaca Vigil, the director of communications of the former Diocese of Prevost in Chiclayo, recalls the cardinal getting up every day and having breakfast with his colleagues priests after having said his prayers.
“Regardless of the number of problems he has, he maintains good humor and joy,” said Purisaca in an email.
– by Franklin Briceño in Lima, Peru, and Nicole Winfield in the city of Vatican. Giada Zampano, Helena Alves and Vanessa Gera contributed to this report.
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