Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States (US) has been selected as the next pope. He is the first American pontiff in history. He will be known as Pope Leo XIV. In his first remarks as pope from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he called for peace as well as paid tribute to the late Pope Francis to a huge crowd across the square.
The Cardinals converged in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel have elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the 267th Pope, who took the name Pope Leo XIV.
From Chicago, Prevost is sixty-nine (69) years old. He spent much of his career as a missionary in South America and served as bishop in Peru. Most recently Prevost led a powerful Vatican office for bishop appointments. He is expected to build on the reforms of Pope Francis.
There were 133 voting Cardinals and any of them needed two-thirds of the vote to emerge the next pope. White smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel indicating the eemrgeence of a new Leader of the Catholic Church, which has over one (1) billion followers across the world.
Photo: Pope Leo XIV. Andrew Medichini/AP via edition.cnn.com
