THE American Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected as Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, and has chosen the name Pope Leo XIV. He is the first pope from the United States.
Pope Leo XIV, who is 69, was elected on the fourth ballot, on the second day of voting, by at least a two-thirds majority of the 133 cardinal electors gathered inside the Sistine Chapel for the conclave. More than 100 of the voting cardinals were appointed by Pope Francis during his 12-year papacy. Cardinals above the age of 80 were not eligible to vote.
The see of Rome had been vacant since the death of Pope Francis last month (News, 25 April).
The Cardinal Proto-deacon Dominique Mamberti made the announcement at 7.13 p.m. local time, after the appearance of the white smoke from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel an hour earlier.
Pope Leo XIV emerged on to the balcony about ten minutes later, and was greeted with cheers by the thousands who had gathered in St Peter’s Square.
Speaking in confident Italian, he said: “Peace be with all of you. Brothers and sisters dearest, this is the first greeting of Christ resurrected. I would like to offer a greeting of peace to reach your families, all of you, wherever you are. May peace be with you.”
After paying tribute to Pope Francis, he said: “Humanity needs Christ as a bridge to be reached by God and his love. Help us, and help each other, build bridges.”
Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago in 1955, and spent many years as a missionary in Peru. He entered the novitiate of the Order of St Augustine in 1977, and made his solemn vows in 1981. He was ordained priest in 1982, and was Bishop of Chiclayo, in Peru, from 2015 to 2023, when Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in January, and a cardinal in September. As Cardinal Prevost, he took possession of his titular church in January 2024.
After thanking the cardinals who had elected him, Pope Leo XIV said: “We can all walk together towards that homeland God has prepared for us. A special greeting to the Church of Rome.” He then switched to Spanish to thank his former Peruvian diocese, “where a loyal people has shared its faith and has given a lot”. He retains Peruvian citizenship.
He then invoked the prayers of the saints, prayed for forgiveness and an indulgence of the faithful, and gave a blessing.
Church leaders, including Church of England bishops, responded to the news swiftly.
Representing the Anglican Centre in Rome, the Bishop of Chichester, Dr Martin Warner, who attended last year’s Synod on Synodality (News, 18 October 2024), said: “This is a moment of celebration and renewal for the Roman Catholic Church. It is also good news for all Christians.
“Pope Francis showed how the Pope can be an accessible and humble ambassador for the whole Church. We pray that God will give Pope Leo XIV the insight, wisdom and courage to continue the work of nurturing and encouraging Christian faith in the daily lives of ordinary people, a humane dimension of faith that reveals the compassion of God for all people.”
The Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, posting on X, wrote: “Rejoicing with all our Roman Catholic friends, especially in the diocese of Brentwood, following the election of Pope Leo XIV. Moving to hear greetings of peace for the whole world in his first address.”
The Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Philip North, posted: “Prayers for Pope Leo XIV. May his time in office be fruitful and richly blessed, and through his faithfulness, may imaginations across the world be captured by the person of Jesus Christ.”
The Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Revd John McDowell, said that the Church of Ireland “rejoice with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters that a heavy responsibility has been discharged” and expressed his good wishes.
“In any episcopal and pontifical succession beginnings are never completely new and endings are never entirely final, so we give thanks to God for the spiritual riches which Pope Leo has inherited and pray that he may know the presence of our common Lord and Saviour.”
The General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Revd Professor Jerry Pillay, said that the responsibility of the voting cardinals was “no easy task and one that requires prayer, discernment, and wisdom to elect such a spiritual leader who is, indeed, not merely limited to the Roman Catholic Church but looked upon by the world for wisdom and leadership.
“We congratulate the new pope and . . . trust that he would continue to strengthen ecumenical collaboration, Christian unity, justice and peace in the world.”
The director and chief executive of the RC charity CAFOD, Christine Allen, said that the new Pope would be “a voice of wisdom in a fractured and divided world. . . Having spent years in Peru, Pope Leo XIV, brings with him the vital perspective of the Global South, elevating voices from the margins to centre stage.
“Now more than ever the world needs a strong and steadfast moral voice that can draw attention to the most important issues in our world: the crippling debt crisis — a key focus of this Jubilee Year — which prevents low-income countries from spending on health and education for their people; the climate crisis and the conflicts blighting our world. . . He will be in our prayers.”
