An American, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost (69) has been elected the new pope under the papal name, Pope Leo XIV.
The announcement was made on Thursday, May 8, 2025, about an hour after white smoke billowed from the Vatican just after 6:00pm. Vatican time (noon ET), indicating that the new head of the Catholic Church had been selected.
Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago and attended Vilanova University and Catholic Theological Union in Chicago before earning a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
He served as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops (formerly known as the Congregation for Bishops) and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America since 2023. He also served as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru from 2015 to 2023.