(AP) Robert Francis Prevost, who was elected the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church Thursday and took the name Pope Leo XIV, is the first pope from the United States.

Robert Prevost becomes first American pope and will be known as Pope Leo XIV

Story From BBC

Summary

• The new pope is Robert Prevost, who will be known as Pope Leo XIV – the first American pontiff to be elected leader of the Catholic Church
• Prevost, 69, is greeted with huge cheers from thousands gathered in St Peter’s Square
• “May peace be with all of you,” he says from the Vatican balcony
• Watch scenes from the Vatican live above
• Chicago-born Prevost is seen as a reformer and worked for many years as a missionary in Peru before being made an archbishop there

Live Reporting

Edited by Dulcie Lee and Jamie Whitehead, with Laura Gozzi and Maryam Moshiri at the Vatican

REUTERS

Who is Robert Prevost, the new Pope Leo XIV?published at 13:2613:26

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

REUTERS

Even before his name was announced from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, the crowds below were chanting “Viva il Papa” – Long live the Pope.

Robert Prevost, 69, will be the 267th occupant of the throne of St Peter and he will be known as Leo XIV.

He will be the first American to fill the role of Pope, although he is considered as much a cardinal from Latin America because of the many years he spent as a missionary in Peru, before becoming an archbishop there.

Born in Chicago in 1955, Prevost served as an altar boy and was ordained as a priest in 1982. Although he moved to Peru three years later, he returned regularly to the US to serve as a pastor and a prior in his home city.

He has Peruvian nationality and is fondly remembered as a figure who worked with marginalised communities and helped build bridges in the local Church.

We have a full profile on Pope Leo XIV for you to read. 

‘I couldn’t stop shaking’published at 13:1713:17

Scarlett Barter
BBC World Service, reporting from the Vatican

Lissette, an American visiting the Vatican today says she was so shocked when she heard the new Pope was to be an American – but adds it was “a good shock.”

“I couldn’t stop shaking,” she says. 

She and her family have travelled all the way from Philadelphia for this moment.

“It’s a blessing to have the first American Pope and for us, as Americans, to be here,” she says.

She hopes that the new Pope will inspire unity and peace among Americans, who she says have “strayed from God.”

Trump congratulates first American pope

REUTERS

Donald Trump has congratulated the new Pope – the first American pontiff – describing it as an “honour” for the country.

The US president says on his social media platform, Truth Social:, external“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope.

“It is such an honour to realise that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”

Huge crowds in St Peter’s Square welcome Pope Leo XIV

VATICAN MEDIA

If you are just joining us, we’ve just been watching as the new Pope was named.

A cardinal appeared on the balcony in St Peter’s Square to announce that American Robert Prevost, who will be known as Pope Leo XIV, had been chosen by the votes of the Conclave to be the next pontiff.

Shortly after, the new pope appeared on the balcony to cheers from the crowds filling St Peter’s Square.

The 69-year-old Chicago-born pontiff delivered his first speech, bringing a “greeting of peace” and God’s love to the faithful below him.

He paid tribute to his predecessor, and even spoke briefly in Spanish to thank his former diocese. 

“Help us, and help each other, build bridges,” he told the crowd of more than 40,000 people in St Peter’s Square.

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