Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost Has Been Chosen as Pope Leo Xiv

The suspense is over, and change has come to Catholicism. The Vatican has spoken and chosen Pope Francis's successor. On Wednesday night, black smoke came from the newly installed chimney of the Sistine Chapel. Some believed Cardinal Pietro Parolin would be selected and fulfill a prophecy, but this did not happen. White smoke billowed on Thursday evening, signaling the new pontiff had been chosen. Cardinal Robert Francis Provost, a native of Chicago, received the two-thirds vote necessary to debut as the 267th pope to the world's more than two billion Catholics on the balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica. He will now be known as Pope Leo XIV. This will be the first time an American has held the position in the episcopacy. According to CBS News, there were chants of "USA, USA", which some considered inappropriate.

Pope Francis died on April 21 at 88 years old. He was the first Latin American leader of the Catholic Church, and during his 12 years as pope, tried to position the institution to become more inclusive.

133 Cardinals from 70 countries gathered to choose Pope Francis's successor. Leo XIV appeared on the red velvet-draped balcony to greet thousands who waited in St. Peter’s Square. Those voting say the Holy Spirit inspires them when it is time to choose. Many well-wishers had stood for hours, watching the Sistine Chapel chimneys. They erupted in cheers when white smoke poured out of the chimney at 6:15. Bells tolled across the plaza, signaling the new leader of the church’s 1.4 billion members had been chosen. Bells also tolled at Catholic basilicas across the US when the white smoke appeared and later when the new pope was revealed. E. Even non Catholics expressed their excitement that a new pope had been chosen.

The 69-year-old pontiff speaks at least four languages, and his speech began in Italian and ended in Spanish. He attended Villanova University and the Catholic Theological Union. He later became a Peruvian citizen. There have been 14 popes who took the name Leo. Five of them, Leo I, II, III, IV, and IX, have been canonized as saints. What is the significance of this name? Pope Leo the First reigned for two decades and L-E-O was his birth name. He was recognized for keeping Atila the Hun from invading Rome, as he had done to Italy. Leo I is a saint in the Eastern Christian Church. The name change from Francis is believed to signify a new direction the pontiff will take while in office. Perhaps Cardinal Robert also did not take on the name of his predecessor because his own middle name is Francis.

Pope Leo, XIV the new head of the Worldwide Catholic Church attended Villanova University and Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He earned a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. According to the National Catholic Reporter, he was ordained in 1982 and spent much of his clerical life in Peru, serving as Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023.

Before that, he served as a parish pastor and diocesan official in the Augustinian mission beginning in 1985. After a short stint in Chicago in 1987, he returned to Peru.

I

In 2023, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Prevost prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops (formerly known as the Congregation for Bishops), an essential role in which he advised the pope on bishop appointments worldwide. That same year, he was also named president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

The Chicago-born pope — formerly Cardinal Robert F. Prevost — is registered to vote in the Chicago suburb of New Lenox, Ill., and has a mixed voting history of participating in primaries for both parties, according to voting records shared with CBS News and data from the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Prevost has voted in more Republican primaries than Democratic primaries, and voted in the Republican primaries in 2012, 2014 & 2016, including the presidential primaries in 2012 and 2016.

He last voted in the 2024 general election, but it is not known which party he voted for.