Newly elected Pope Robert PrevostCardinals have elected Robert Prevost as the new Pope.
He has taken the name Pope Leo XIV.
He becomes the 267th pontiff of the Catholic Church.
Pope Leo XIV replaces Pope Francis who died on April 21, 2025 after battling illness.
A total of 133 cardinals, all aged under 80, participated in the conclave to elect the Pope.
Who is Pope Leo XIV?
Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV is certainly seen as having many of the necessary qualities for the role.
Two years ago Pope Francis chose him to replace Marc Ouellet as prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Bishops, handing him the task of selecting the next generation of bishops.
He worked for many years as a missionary in Peru before being made an archbishop there.
Pope Leo XIV is not just considered an American, but as someone who headed the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
He is seen a reformer, but at 69, might be viewed as too young for the papacy.
His period as archbishop in Peru was also clouded by allegations of covering up sexual abuse claims, which were denied by his diocese.
Younger life
Pope Leo XIV was born and raised in the south suburbs of Chicago, where he was part of St Mary of the Assumption parish near Dolton, Illinois, per the Chicago Sun-Times.
His Midwestern roots, combined with decades spent abroad, have made him a figure who bridges cultural and geographic divides in the global Church.
He was ordained in 1982 and received a doctorate in canon law in Rome at the Pontifical College of St Thomas Aquinas.
He served for two decades in Peru, where he served as Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023, and became a naturalised citizen.
Prior to that, he served at the Order of St Augustine, long before being appointed by Pope Francis in 2023 to head the Dicastery for Bishops, a powerful Vatican office that oversees episcopal appointments worldwide.
