U.S. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected Pope, with the name Pope Leo XIV. A few minutes after 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 8, white smoke emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, a sign that the cardinal electors had succeeded in electing a new pope, number 267 in history. The choice took place on the second day of the Conclave. The choice to call himself Leo evokes some crucial passages in the history of the Roman Church: from the earliest Christological controversies, to the birth of Protestantism, to the confrontation with modernity
According to many Vatican experts, the rapidity of the election confirms a broad convergence on his name, considered capable of holding together the different souls of the College of Cardinals.
Prevost was born Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago, U.S., and joined the Order of St. Augustine in 1977, a Catholic religious community in which members live following the rule of St. Augustine For many years he worked in Peru where he was also bishop of Chiclayo.