Robert Francis Prevost has been elected as the 267th pope, following the death of Pope Francis on April 25. Prevost, who is now known as Pope Leo XIV, is the first United States citizen to take on the role.
Born in Chicago in 1955 to a Spanish mother and Franco-Italian father, Leo grew up in a devout Catholic household. His family has Creole roots, with records showing that his great-grandparents lived in Louisiana before his family moved to Chicago. Pope Leo earned his Master’s of Divinity at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago before being ordained as priest in 1982. He served as a missionary Peru for two decades, helping marginalized communities and eventually obtaining a Peruvian citizenship. Pope Francis made him a cardinal in 2023, and Pope Leo became well-known among his fellow cardinals for his role as prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops, where he oversaw and appointed bishops.
The conclave started the voting process on May 7, with three main contenders emerging after the first meeting: Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Cardinal Peter Eto, and Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost. Neither Cardinal Parolin, an Italian who served as Pope Francis’s Secretary of State, nor Cardinal Eto, a Hungarian cardinal who served as Primate of Hungary, gained enough supporters to win a majority. Although cardinals said that Cardinal Prevost avoided drawing any attention to himself during dinner that night, he became a favorite of cardinals from North and South America alike. His service in Peru, reputation as former leader of the Order of St. Augustine, fluency in Spanish and Italian, and connection with Pope Francis quickly put him into the spotlight despite him only being a cardinal for two years. By the second and third vote, the winner became clear. In the second day of the conclave, Cardinal Prevost earned the 89 votes needed to become pope.
Pope Leo is regarded as a centrist, sharing Pope Francis’s views on many topics such as immigrants, the environment, and the poor. Though holding progressive views regarding social issues, he is considered a moderate on church doctrine, maintaining traditions such as opposing the ordination of female deacons – though the Pope has endorsed efforts to increase women’s participation in the church and Vatican. His papal name, as he explained in his address to Roman cardinals, symbolizes his commitment to social justice in a modern era. The last pope to take the name Leo, Pope Leo XIII, served during the revolutions of the 19th century and was known for writing the Rerum Novarum, an encyclical which addressed worker rights and capitalism. Pope Leo has pushed for efforts to protect the environment and combat climate change, as well as for the rights of migrants. At his first Sunday address, he spoke on the war in Ukraine and violence in Gaza, calling for “lasting peace.” He has also criticized the Trump administration’s stance on immigration and recent deportations.
Pope Leo plans to continue Pope Francis’s work regarding modernizing the church and emphasizing its missionary focus. He specifically highlighted artificial intelligence as a revolution that would “pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor”, calling for an international treaty regulating the use of AI.