US Cardinal Prevost elected Pope Leo XIV, first American pontiff

Vatican City - Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as Pope Leo XIV early on May 9 (Singapore time), the first American to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Pope Leo appeared on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica around 70 minutes after white smoke billowed from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel, signifying that the 133 cardinal electors had chosen a new leader for the Catholic Church.

“Peace be with you all,” the new pontiff said, in his first public words.

The choice of Cardinal Prevost was announced by French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti with the Latin words “Habemus Papam” (We have a pope) to tens of thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square to hear the news.

Pope Leo becomes the 267th Catholic pope after the death in April of Pope Francis, who was the first Latin American pope and had led the church for 12 years, and widely sought to open the staid institution up to the modern world.

White smoke from the Sistine Chapel had billowed into the sky on the cardinals’ second day of voting to announce his election in a secret conclave, while the bells of St Peter’s Basilica and churches across Rome rang out.

Crowds of people rushed towards the square to watch the balcony of the basilica, which had been fitted out with red curtains for Pope Leo’s first address.

“It is an amazing feeling,” said an elated Mr Joseph Brian, a 39-year-old chef from Belfast in Northern Ireland who came with his mother to Rome for the spectacle.

“I am not an overly religious person, but being here with all these people just blew me away,” he told AFP as people around him jumped up and down in excitement.

Born on Sept 14, 1955 in Chicago, the 69-year-old Pope has spent most of his career as a missionary in Peru and became a cardinal only in 2023. He has given few media interviews and rarely speaks in public.

He was entrusted by his predecessor, Pope Francis, to head the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, charged with advising the pontiff on new bishop appointments.

The sign of confidence from Pope Francis spoke to Cardinal Prevost’s commitment as a missionary in Peru to the “peripheries” – overlooked areas far from Rome prioritised by Pope Francis – and his reputation as a bridge-builder and moderate within the Curia.

Cardinal Prevost has attracted interest from his peers because of his quiet style and support for Pope Francis, especially his commitment to social justice issues.

Cardinal Prevost attended a minor seminary of the Order of St Augustine in St Louis as a novice before graduating from Philadelphia’s Villanova University, an Augustinian institution, with a degree in mathematics.

After receiving a master’s degree in divinity from Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union in 1982, and a doctorate in canon law in Rome, the polyglot joined the Augustinians in Peru in 1985 for the first of his decade-long missions in that country.

Returning to Chicago in 1999, he was made provincial prior of the Augustinians in the US Midwest and later the prior general of the order throughout the world.

He served as a bishop in Chiclayo, in north-western Peru, from 2015 to 2023.

Pope Francis brought him to Rome that year to head the Vatican office in charge of choosing which priests should serve as Catholic bishops across the globe, meaning he has had a hand in selecting many of the world’s bishops.

Cardinal Prevost said during a 2023 Vatican press conference: “Our work is to enlarge the tent and to let everyone know they are welcome inside the Church.”

Vatican watchers had given Cardinal Prevost the highest chances among the group of US cardinals of being pope, given his pastoral bent, global view and ability to navigate the central bureaucracy.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica called him “the least American of the Americans” for his soft-spoken touch.

His strong grounding in canon law has also been seen as reassuring to more conservative cardinals seeking a greater focus on theology.

The new pope now faces a momentous task: As well as asserting his moral voice on a conflict-torn global stage, he must try to unite a divided church and tackle burning issues such as the continued fallout from the sexual abuse scandal.

The Roman Catholic cardinals had, in the morning voting session on May 8, held two ballots

without electing the new pope.

They began the secretive voting process, known as a conclave, on May 7.

But the tens of thousands of people who had massed at the Vatican late that evening saw only a plume of black smoke rise up from the chapel’s chimney, the signal that no one had secured a two-thirds majority in the conclave to succeed Pope Francis, who died on April 21 aged 88. White smoke signals a successful election.

On May 8, the cardinals returned to the Sistine Chapel, resuming the voting for a successor to Francis in the largest and most geographically diverse conclave in history.

A record 133 cardinals from 70 countries were involved in the ballot, up from 115 from 48 nations in the last conclave in 2013 – growth that reflects efforts by Pope Francis to extend the global reach of the church.

Among the 133 cardinal electors under the age of 80 was

Singaporean William Goh.

Both Pope Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI were elected within two days, but the longest papal election in church history lasted 1,006 days, from 1268 to 1271. AFP, REUTERS