VATICAN CITY— For the first time in the nearly 2,000-year history of the Roman Catholic Church, an American has been elected pope.
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago was chosen as the 267th pope and will take the name Pope Leo XIV, the Vatican announced Tuesday. A 1977 graduate of Villanova University near Philadelphia, Prevost’s election marks a historic milestone for the Church.
Pope Leo XIV, 69, brings a global perspective to the papacy. He has spent about a third of his life in Peru and another third in Italy—experience that Vatican analysts say likely played a key role in his selection. His most recent position as head of the Vatican’s powerful Dicastery for Bishops gave him significant influence over the appointment of new bishops worldwide.
His election follows a conclave of cardinals held in the Sistine Chapel, where secrecy and tradition continue to guide the process of choosing the spiritual leader for the world’s more than 1.3 billion Catholics.
