19 hours, 14 minutes ago

Robert Prevost of the United States is named Pope Leo XIV

Newly elected Pope Leone XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
by : The Associated Press

Cardinal Robert Prevost has taken the name Leo XIV. He is the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.

As a missionary, Prevost, 69, spent his career ministering in Peru and led the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops.

White smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney Thursday at 6:07 p.m. local time, signaling that a pontiff had been elected to lead the Catholic Church.