New Pope Leo XIV – what we know so far
Jakub Krupa
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69-year-old US cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected as Pope Leo XIV, prompted celebration and delight among more than 100,000 pilgrims and tourists in St Peter’s Square.
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The moderate, Chicago-born cardinal was given senior roles by Pope Francis, and has significant missionary experience in Peru having served as bishop of the northern city of Chiclayo.
That’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, but Marina Dunbar will guide you through the evening in Rome with the latest updates.
Key events
Jason Rodrigues
In the early hours of 20 February 1878, following a third ballot, the door of the ground gallery of the Vatican Basilica was thrown open and Italian-born Cardinal Pecci was announced as the successor to Pope Pius IX.
According to our Special Correspondent, the new Pope’s first appearance gave the signal for the ‘most vociferous cheering’, the Rome crowd taking up the shout and crying “long live the Pope”.
Readers were also told that the new Pope, who had chosen Leo out of admiration for Pope Leo XII, was a “man of moderate views in religious matters, though of distinguished piety, combined with great energy and character…”
Leo XIII’s papacy lasted until his death in 1903, making him one of the longest-serving Popes.
Biographers later noted that he “brought a new spirit to the papacy, expressed in more conciliatory positions toward civil governments, by less opposition to scientific progress, and by an awareness of the pastoral and social needs of the times.”
Here are some images from the newswires showing how people from around the world cheered the election of Robert Francis Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV.
Summary of the day so far
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A new pope is elected. US cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, will be known as Pope Leo XIV. It’s been a long while since we had a pope with this name: last Leo, Leo XIII, was elected in 1878 and served until his death in 1903.
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In his first comments after his election, Pope Leo XIV preached a message of “unity” and of “moving forward”. He said he wants this message of peace to “enter your hearts, to reach your families and all people, wherever they are.”
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Many shared their excitement at having an American pope, and specifically a pope born in Chicago. City mayor Brandon Johnson tweeted “Everything dope, including the Pope, comes from Chicago” and former US president Barack Obama congratulated the “fellow Chicagoan” on social media.
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US president Donald Trump said he was “surprised” but that it is a “great honor” to have an American pope. World leaders from several countries including Italy, Spain, Greece, Ukraine, Peru and the United Kingdom have offered their congratulations.
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An account on X widely believed to belong to the new pope shows him to be somewhat critical of the Trump administration. The account posted two articles that took issue with the stance by JD Vance, also a Catholic, on immigration. One article was headlined “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
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In a 2012 address to the world Synod of Bishops, Father Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV appeared to criticize homosexuality, saying “Western mass media is extraordinarily effective in fostering within the general public enormous sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the Gospel — for example abortion, homosexual lifestyle, euthanasia”.
Tiago Rogero
The election of Pope Leo XIV is being celebrated across Latin America – particularly in Peru, where he lived and worked for more than 20 years and was granted citizenship in 2015 – as a kind of “second Latin American pope”, following his Argentine predecessor, Francis.
The president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, said that Leo’s election was “not only the first time that an American has ascended to the throne of Saint Peter, but also the first occasion on which a Peruvian, with more than 20 years of service on our soil, leads the Catholic Church as Supreme Pontiff.”
She added: “The Pope is Peruvian; God loves Peru.”
The new pope holds Peruvian citizenship, after having lived and worked in the country on at least three separate occasions since the 1980s – with a period back in Chicago in the early 2000s – and only left Peru in 2023, when he was appointed to a position at the Vatican.
In his first appearance from the Vatican balcony, Leo XIV briefly switched from Italian to Spanish to address the faithful “from my beloved diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru,” where he served as bishop for over a decade.
In Colombia, the interior minister, Armando Benedetti, posted on social media that the years spent in Peru “mean the new pope is once again a Latin American.”
Some posts on social media jokingly claimed that the new pope is “more Latino than the entire cast of Emilia Pérez,” referencing the French film that sparked controversy over its portrayal of Mexico.
Prime ministers of Spain and Greece react to the new pope
Helena Smith
The prime minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez has offered his congratulations on social media. He wrote: “Congratulations to the entire Catholic Church for the election of the new Pope Leo XIV as @Pontifex_es. May your pontificate contribute to strengthening dialogue and the defense of human rights in a world in need of hope and unity.”
The Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has also added his voice to leaders welcoming the news of the election of the Chicago-born pontiff. He said: “Congratulations to Pope Leo XIV. Your leadership comes at a time when the world faces profound challenges but also great opportunities for unity, compassion, and dialogue among peoples and faiths.”
Greece, like fellow Christian Orthodox Cyprus, have small but ancient Catholic communities that Pope Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, made a point of visiting as part of his emphasis on the peripheries during his twelve-year tenure.
Share your views on Pope Leo XIV.
Robert Francis Prevost, from Chicago, has become the first American pope to lead the Roman Catholic church. We’d like to hear your thoughts about the first clergyman from the US to lead the Roman Catholic church.
New pope criticized ‘homosexual lifestyle’ as ‘at odds with the Gospel’ in 2012 speech
Robert Mackey
In a 2012 address to the world Synod of Bishops, Father Robert Francis Prevost, who became Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, said that “Western mass media is extraordinarily effective in fostering within the general public enormous sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the Gospel — for example abortion, homosexual lifestyle, euthanasia”.
In the remarks, which he also read portions of for a video produced by the Catholic News Service, a news agency owned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the cleric added:
The sympathy for anti-Christian lifestyles choices that mass media fosters is so brilliantly and artfully engrained in the viewing public that when people hear the Christian message it often inevitably seems ideological and emotionally cruel by contrast to the humaneness of the anti-Christian perspective.
Catholic pastors who preach against the legalization of abortion or the redefinition of marriage are portrayed as being ideologically driven, severe and uncaring. …
Note for example how alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children are so benignly and sympathetically portrayed in television programs and cinema today.
The video illustrates his criticism of the “homosexual lifestyle” and “same-sex partners and their adopted children” with clips from two US sitcoms, The New Normal and Modern Family.
The cleric also called for a “new evangelization to counter these mass media-produced distortions of religious and ethical reality”.
Barack Obama congratulates ‘fellow Chicagoan’
Former US president Barack Obama congratulated the “fellow Chicagoan” Pope Leo XIV in a social media post.
“Michelle and I send our congratulations to a fellow Chicagoan, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV. This is a historic day for the United States, and we will pray for him as he begins the sacred work of leading the Catholic Church and setting an example for so many, regardless of faith.”
Villanova University, the Catholic institution in Pennsylvania where Pope Leo XIV is an alumnus, celebrated the pope’s election in a statement.
“As an Augustinian Catholic institution, we celebrate this significant day for our University community and the global Church. Villanova, built on the teachings of St. Augustine, has always been grounded in advancing a deeper understanding of the fundamental relationship between faith and reason—between spirituality and wisdom,” said University President the Rev Peter M Donohue.
“With today’s election of His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV, I cannot help but reflect on what his Augustinian papacy will mean to our University community and our world. Known for his humility, gentle spirit, prudence and warmth, Pope Leo XIV’s leadership offers an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to our educational mission,” he said.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer says election of first US pope a ‘momentous moment’
British prime minister Keir Starmer posted a statement on X, calling it “a momentous moment.”
“The election of Pope Leo XIV is a deeply profound moment of joy for Catholics in the United Kingdom and globally, and begins a new chapter for the leadership of the Church and in the world“ the statement reads.
“Pope Leo is the first American Pope. This is a momentous moment. As Pope Francis’ papacy showed, the Holy See has a special role to play in bringing people and nations together to address the major issues of our time; especially on climate change, alleviating poverty and promoting peace and justice across the world” he adds.
Blake Montgomery
An account on X widely believed to belong to the new pope offers a short tour of his interests. He tweeted and retweeted posts in both Spanish and English, reflecting his American heritage and his missionary work in Peru. He was close with his predecessor, Pope Francis, and tweeted prayers for the former pontiff’s health in recent months.
Leo also tweeted in disagreement with vice president JD Vance. In February of this year, Leo posted two articles that took issue with the stance by Vance, also a Catholic, on immigration. One article was headlined “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
In 2020 and 2021, he used his account to encourage followers to follow social distancing measures and get the covid-19 vaccine. Also in 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s death, Leo tweeted, “We need to hear more from leaders in the Church, to reject racism and seek justice.”
JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, the US state where Pope Leo XIV was born, welcomed the new pope in a social media post.
“A historic moment as we witness the first American leading the Catholic Church,” he wrote. “Hailing from Chicago, Pope Leo XIV ushers in a new chapter that I join those in our state welcoming in at a time when we need compassion, unity, and peace.”
Trump says ‘surprise’ and ‘great honour’ to have an American pope
President Donald Trump said he was “surprised” and called it a “great honor” to have an American pope. He added that he is “happy” with the choice when speaking with reporters.
