The new pontiff has been revealed as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., a U.S.-born prelate and longtime missionary in Latin America.
He will be known as Pope Leo XIV, becoming the first American pope in the history of the Catholic Church.
The announcement was made from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica before a crowd of tens of thousands gathered in the square.
Pope Leo XIV, 69, was most recently prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
A member of the Augustinian order, he was created cardinal by Pope Francis in September 2023 and officially took possession of his titular church on January 28, 2024. He has been a key figure in Church governance, religious formation, and missionary service.
Born in Chicago in 1955, Prevost entered the Augustinians in 1977 and was ordained a priest in 1982. He holds a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome.
From the mid-1980s through the late 1990s, he served in Peru, particularly in the Archdiocese of Trujillo, as a missionary, formator, and judicial vicar. He later became provincial prior in Chicago and was elected Prior General of the Augustinian order, serving two six-year terms.
In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator—and later bishop—of Chiclayo in northern Peru. He also served briefly as apostolic administrator of Callao in 2020 and held a leadership post in the Peruvian Episcopal Conference.
He is fluent in Spanish and has maintained strong ties to Latin America throughout his ministry.
As a cardinal, he sat on numerous Vatican dicasteries, including those for Evangelization, the Doctrine of the Faith, Eastern Churches, Clergy, Consecrated Life, Culture and Education, and Legislative Texts.
He was also a member of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.
With a background that bridges North and South America, religious life and Roman governance, Pope Leo XIV is expected to continue many of the pastoral and reform priorities championed by his predecessor, Pope Francis.
The new pope is expected to deliver his first Urbi et Orbi message later this evening from the same balcony where his election was announced.
