American Robert Prevost Emerges As New Pontiff, To Be Addressed As Pope Leo XIV

The new Pope is Robert Prevost – the first American pontiff. He will take the name Pope Leo XIV

Prevost, age 69, from Chicago, Illinois, is a leader with global experience. He spent much of his career as a missionary in South America and served as a bishop in Peru.

He most recently led a powerful Vatican office for bishop appointments. He is expected to build on Pope Francis’ reforms.

For the third time in a row, a new Pope was elected on the second day of the conclave.

Cardinals took two days to select a new pontiff, matching the timeline from the previous two gatherings and suggesting that Pope Leo quickly impressed his peers during the secretive process.

Francis and Benedict XVI were both revealed in the evening of the conclave’s second day, while John Paul II, the longest-reigning pope of modern times, was selected on the third day in 1978.

The 133 cardinals whose voices reverberated inside the halls of the Sistine Chapel included progressives, conservatives, and self-styled unifiers from 71 different nations, and the chosen candidate will have navigated those contrasting camps to reach the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, where he will soon greet his faithful for the first time.

Crowds are eagerly waiting below in St. Peter’s Square, desperate for a glimpse of the man whose identity is moments from being revealed.