Who is Robert Prevost, the new Pope Leo XIV
Even before his name was announced from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, thousands in the crowd were shouting "Viva il Papa" – Long live the Pope!
Robert Prevost, the 69-year-old cardinal, will be the 267th on the throne of St. Peter and will bear the name Leo the Fourteenth.
He is the first American to become pope, although he is also considered a South American cardinal because he spent many years on a mission in Peru before becoming the archbishop there.
He also holds Peruvian citizenship and is remembered as someone who helped marginalized communities and built bridges within the local church.
He was born in Chicago in 1955. His parents are of Ecuadorian and French origin.
Prevost served in the church as a boy and became a priest in 1982.
In his first address as Pope Leo XIV, he spoke with loving words about his predecessor Francis.
"We can still hear the weak but always brave voice of Pope Francis and his blessing."
"United and hand in hand with God, let us move forward together," he told the enthusiastic audience.
To the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square, he said he is a member of the Order of St. Augustine, one of the monastic orders in the Catholic Church.
He was 30 years old when he moved to Peru as part of the Augustinian mission.
Francis appointed him bishop of Chiclayo in western Peru one year after becoming pope.
He is known among cardinals worldwide for his prominent role in the Dicastery for Bishops – the department responsible for selecting new cardinals within the Catholic Church.
Since 80 percent of the cardinals who participated in the conclave were appointed by Francis, it is not a big surprise that someone like Prevost was elected.
He is seen as someone who could continue Pope Francis’s reforms within the Catholic Church.
Although he is American and fully aware of the divisions within the Church, his Latin American background also represents a continuation after the Argentine pope.
Although during his service as archbishop in Peru he did not avoid sexual abuse scandals that cast a shadow over the Church, his diocese strongly denied that he was involved in any attempt to cover them up.
Before the conclave, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that during recent gatherings of the College of Cardinals, there was an emphasis on the need for a pope with a "prophetic spirit capable of leading a Church that does not close in on itself, but knows how to go out and bring light to a world marked by despair."
