The Catholic Church has chosen a new pope, and for the first time in history, the Bishop of Rome hails from the United States. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, a Chicago native with decades of missionary service in Peru, was elected by the conclave and has taken the name Pope Leo XIV.
The announcement came from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, where Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti delivered the traditional “Habemus Papam” to the world.
Leo XIV is the first member of the Order of Saint Augustine to become pope and the second pontiff from the Americas, following Pope Francis. His election marks a historic moment for the U.S. Catholic Church and for the American continent more broadly.
A Path from Illinois to the Vatican
Born in Chicago in 1955 to a French-Italian father and Spanish-descent mother, Leo XIV joined the Augustinians and began his priesthood with missionary work in Trujillo, Peru, where he served poor communities, trained clergy, and held leadership roles within both the Church and the Augustinian Order. He was fluent in Spanish and deeply respected across Latin America.
In 2015, Pope Francis named him Bishop of Chiclayo, and by 2023, he was serving as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, one of the highest positions in the Roman Curia. Pope Francis made him a cardinal in 2024.
A Pope Formed by the Americas
Although Leo XIV was born in the U.S., his pastoral identity was forged in the barrios and seminaries of northern Peru. He has been described as a bridge between continents — a pastor with deep understanding of both North and South American Catholic life.
During Pope Francis’s final hospitalization earlier this year, Prevost led prayers in St. Peter’s Square, quietly emerging as a spiritual leader for the next chapter of the Church.
Now, as Pope Leo XIV, he becomes the spiritual leader of more than a billion Catholics — and the first U.S.-born pope to lead the Church from the heart of Rome.
Image Source: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-05/cardinal-elected-pope-papal-name.html
Texas Reporter 