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Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected as the new pope, breaking what was long believed be a strong taboo against choosing an American to lead the world’s 1.4bn Catholics.
Prevost, who spent many years in Peru, was seen as a compromise candidate whose strong blend of pastoral experience and managerial prowess was an attractive combination for a church facing an array of challenges, including declining congregations in Europe and the Vatican’s precarious finances.
He will be known as Pope Leo XIV, the choice of name signalling that a strong social agenda will be his priority. The papal name was last utilised in the late 19th century by a social reformer, who sought to apply church teachings to modern issues such as the exploitation of workers during the industrial revolution.
“Peace be with all of you,” Pope Leo told cheering crowds from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on Thursday. “I want this salute of peace to enter your heart, reach your families, and all people, wherever they are, and all the peoples, and the whole world.”
Stressing the importance of “building bridges and dialogue”, the new pope said he wanted a Catholic Church that would “always seek peace, charity . . . and to always be especially close to those who suffer”.
In a post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump said: “Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
Prevost, 69, obtained an undergraduate degree in mathematics, before studying theology and canon law. He then spent decades as a priest teaching and serving in Peru, later administering troubled dioceses and becoming a member of the Peruvian bishops’ conference.
The Chicago native was close to the late Pope Francis, who summoned him to the Vatican in 2023, and asked him to lead the curia’s influential department for bishop appointments, an assignment that helped him develop networks among the global Catholic leadership.
The assignment probably helped Prevost muster the two-thirds majority required to be elected pope, analysts say.
“He is possibly the only one who knows everybody and is known by everybody,” said Francesco Sisci, founder of the Appia Institute, a geopolitical think-tank. He added: “Having an American pope able to talk one on one really strongly with Trump and the United States could be a plus.”
Prevost is seen as generally progressive, sharing many of Francis’s ideas about the environment and immigration, ideals that could potentially bring him into conflict with the Trump administration over its hardline anti-migrant policies.
Just before his last illness, Francis wrote a strongly-worded letter to the US Catholic clergy, urging them to stand up against the demonisation of migrants.
About an hour after white smoke had billowed over the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, senior Cardinal Dominique Mamberti appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica. “Habemus Papam,” he said, confirming to the thousands gathered in the square below that the conclave had chosen a new pontiff.
American Catholics — some waving the stars and stripes of the US flag — seemed stunned and elated at Prevost’s surprise elevation to the papal throne.
“We never had an American pope — they said it would never happen in a million years,” said John Sanchez, 27, the US-born son of Colombian immigrants. “It’s like winning the lottery.”
But Sanchez predicted that the pope could “clash with Trump on certain things, definitely with migrants, but not on all things. I hope he works with [the US] too. It’s important to work with all the people”.
Prevost takes the helm of a church wrestling with a sharp decline in congregational attendance in its traditional European heartland, and concerns over how to keep young people and women engaged in a faith whose leadership is entirely male.
“Every [Catholic] church in every continent has this problem in different ways,” said Massimo Faggioli, a theology professor at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
The Holy See faces other challenges too, such as growing concern about its precarious finances, and demands for stronger measures to protect children from sexual abuse by priests.
A Vatican spokesman said that the election of Prevost was “a clear reference to the modern social doctrine of the church”, which centres on ideas of human dignity and the common good.
Additional reporting by Giuliana Ricozzi in Rome