Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the first US-born pontiff and will be known as Pope Leo XIV. Leo made his first remarks as pope from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in front of tens of thousands of onlookers, calling for peace and paying tribute to the late Pope Francis.The 69-year-old from Chicago stepped into his role as the 267th pope on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday evening, addressing thousands of cheering Catholics with the words: “Peace be with you all.”
About the new pope:
Leo XIV, a 69-year-old from Chicago, is a leader with global experience. He spent much of his career as a missionary in South America and holds dual citizenship in the US and Peru, where he served as a bishop. He most recently led a powerful Vatican office for bishop appointments. He is expected to build on Pope Francis’ reforms. As cardinal, he said little on key issues of the church, but some of his positions are known. He is reportedly very close to Francis’s vision regarding the environment, outreach to the poor and migrants. He said in 2024 “the bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom”.
He also supported Pope Francis’s stance on allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion. Pope Leo has years of experience in leadership roles within the church.He was twice elected to the top position of the Augustinian religious order and Francis clearly had an eye on his progress – moving him from the Augustinian leadership back to Peru in 2014, where he served as administrator and later archbishop of Chiclayo. He acquired Peruvian citizenship in 2015 and remained in Chiclayo until 2023, when Francis brought him to Rome.
Why has the new Pope chosen Leo XIV as a name?
The new Pope has not yet specified why he has decided to be known as Pope Leo XIV.There could be many reasons for it, but the name Leo has been used by many popes over the years.Pope Leo I, also known as St Leo the Great, was pontiff between 440 and 461 AD.He was the 45th pope in history and became known for his commitment to peace. According to legend, the miraculous apparition of Saints Peter and Paul during the meeting between Pope Leo I and Attila the king of the Huns in 452 AD made the latter desist from invading Italy. The scene was then depicted by Raphael in a fresco.
Pope Leo’s first address
Delivering an address from the balcony, Pope Leo – speaking in Italian – told the crowds: “Peace be with you all.” He then thanked his predecessor and repeated Francis’s call for a church that is engaged with the modern world and “always looking for peace, charity and being close to people, especially those who are suffering”.”Together we must try to find out how to be a church that builds bridges, establishes dialogue and is open to receiving everybody,” he said. Speaking in Spanish, he added: “I would particularly like to say hello to my compatriots from Peru. “It was a great pleasure for me to work in Peru.”
Prevost, who in his first speech called for “peace” and “to build bridges”, has previously criticised the Trump administration’s treatment of refugees and migrants, saying in a recent post that the US government did not “see the suffering” in its policies. Referring to the final blessing that Francis gave from the same balcony on Easter Sunday, the day before his death, Leo added: “Evil will not prevail: we are all in God’s hands … The world needs his light … Help us build bridges, with dialogue, to always be at peace.”
His first words to the raucous crowd celebrating in St Peter’s Square were “peace be with you all”. “I would like peace to reach your families, all peoples, all the earth,” he said, speaking in Italian, then switching to Spanish – and saying not a word in English.
Here’s what else you should know about the new American pontiff:
- He was the “least American” of the American cardinals: Prevost was born in Chicago. But inside the Vatican, where he eventually lived and worked, he was considered the “least American” of the US cardinals.
- He was well regarded by Pope Francis: The late pontiff “respected him and thought of him very highly,” according to CNN’s Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb. “Clearly Pope Francis saw in him something – he saw him as a capable leader.”
- He’s a member of the Augustinian order: Leo is a member of the Augustinian religious order, which is spread across the world. He led the order for more than a decade as its prior general.
- He has strong leadership experience: Francis appointed Prevost to be the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, which is in charge of assessing bishop candidates and making recommendations for new appointments. He also served as the president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
- He has a missionary focus: “I still consider myself a missionary. My vocation, like that of every Christian, is to be a missionary, to proclaim the Gospel wherever one is,” Prevost said in an interview with Vatican News shortly after he moved into his leadership role in Rome.
New pope told journalists in 2023 that ordaining women would not solve problems in the church
Robert Prevost said in 2023 that “clericalizing women” would not solve issues in the church, according to the Catholic News Agency. “Something that needs to be said also is that ordaining women — and there’s been some women that have said this, interestingly enough — ‘clericalizing women’ doesn’t necessarily solve a problem, it might make a new problem,” Prevost told journalists at a news conference in October of that year, according to the outlet.
Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, did acknowledge that women are taking on new roles of leadership at the Vatican and elsewhere in the church, according to the Catholic News Agency.But, he said, “It isn’t as simple as saying that, ‘You know, at this stage we’re going to change the tradition of the Church after 2,000 years on any one of those points.’”
“Perhaps we need to look at a new understanding or different understanding of both leadership, power, authority, and service — above all service — in the Church from the different perspectives that can be, if you will, brought to the life of the Church by women and men,” he said, according to the news agency. Prevost’s comments came during a meeting of Catholic bishops, known as a synod, in which Pope Francis had allowed women to participate and vote for the first time.
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