VATICAN CITY, KalderaNews.com– Following a conclave that began on Wednesday (May 7, 2025) within the Sistine Chapel, the Catholic Church worldwide has a new leader. The cardinal electors have reached a consensus, choosing Cardinal Robert Prevost as the 267th Pope, who will take the name Pope Leo XIV.
The election of Pope Francis’ successor occurred remarkably quickly. In approximately 26 hours since the doors of the Sistine Chapel were closed on Wednesday evening at 9:30 PM WIB, the Holy Spirit is believed to have guided the cardinals to an agreement.
Previously, Catholics around the globe experienced a period of anticipation marked by three instances of black smoke emanating from the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaling a lack of consensus. However, the wait ended with joy when, in the early hours of Friday (May 9, 2025) around 12:20 AM WIB, white smoke billowed into the sky.
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This was met with jubilant cheers from the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square. The Basilica’s bells then rang out, heralding a new era for the Catholic Church.
The official confirmation of the new Pope’s election came from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, delivered by the Cardinal Proto-Deacon. With a resounding voice, he proclaimed in Latin, “Annutio vobis gaudium magnum, Habemus Papam!” (“I announce to you a great joy, We have a Pope!”).
“Robert Prevost. Pope Leo XIV!” he continued, met with enthusiastic applause and cheers from the crowd.
According to reports from AP News, the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV marks a historic moment. He becomes the first American to occupy the Holy See in the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year history. The 69-year-old is known to have spent a significant portion of his ministry in Peru.
Prior to his election as the supreme leader of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Prevost served as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and as the president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America under Pope Francis.
Pope Leo XIV’s First Urbi et Orbi
Shortly after the official announcement, Pope Leo XIV appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to deliver his first apostolic blessing to the city of Rome and the world, known as “Urbi et Orbi.”
This blessing holds deep significance for Catholics as it is associated with a plenary indulgence for those who meet specific spiritual requirements.
The relatively swift election of Pope Leo XIV is noteworthy. For comparison, the election of Pope Francis required five ballots over two days, Pope Benedict XVI’s election took four ballots over two days, and Pope John Paul II was elected after eight ballots spanning three days. One of the fastest conclaves in modern history was that of Pope John Paul I in 1978.
Now, the eyes of Catholics worldwide are focused on the leadership of Pope Leo XIV, anticipating the new directions and policies he will bring to the Catholic Church globally.
The Story of Robert Francis Prevost
Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago on September 14, 1955, to a father of French-Italian descent and a mother of Spanish heritage. After graduating from the Augustinian minor seminary in 1973, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Villanova University (1977) and later a Master of Divinity degree from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago (1982).
His studies continued in Rome, where he obtained a licentiate and a doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1984, 1987).
Ordained a priest in 1982, Prevost began his missionary work in Peru in 1985. There, he served as chancellor of the Territorial Prelature of Chulucanas and led the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo for a decade.
Additionally, he taught Canon Law at the diocesan seminary, served as a judge in the regional ecclesiastical tribunal, and led parish communities in the city’s outskirts, deepening his ties with Latin America and expanding his pastoral influence in the region.
In 1998, Prevost was elected provincial of the Augustinian Order in Chicago. Three years later, he rose to the highest position in the order as Prior General for two terms until 2013, focusing on internal reforms and strengthening the order’s mission globally.
Pope Francis appointed Prevost as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru and Titular Bishop of Sufar on November 3, 2014. He was ordained a bishop on December 12, 2014, and officially became Bishop of Chiclayo on September 26, 2015.
During his tenure, he was active in the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, including serving as a permanent council member and president of the Commission for Education and Culture.
On January 30, 2023, Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a significant role overseeing the appointment of bishops worldwide. He also served as President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Prevost was appointed a cardinal-deacon on September 30, 2023, and later promoted to cardinal-bishop with assignment to the Suburbicarian Diocese of Albano on February 6, 2025.
Following the passing of Pope Francis in April 2025, the conclave of 133 cardinals elected Prevost as Pope on the second day, after four rounds of voting. He took the name Leo XIV. His election was announced by Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica with the words “Habemus Papam.”
He spent his childhood and adolescence with his family and studied first at the Minor Seminary of the Augustinian Fathers and then at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where in 1977 he earned a Degree in Mathematics and also studied Philosophy.
On September 1 of the same year, Prevost entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.) in Saint Louis, in the Province of Our Lady of Good Counsel of Chicago, and made his first profession on September 2, 1978. On August 29, 1981, he made his solemn vows.
The future Pontiff received his theological education at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. At the age of 27, he was sent by his superiors to Rome to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum).
In Rome, he was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982, at the Augustinian College of Saint Monica by Archbishop Jean Jadot, then pro-president of the Secretariat for Non-Christians, which later became the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and then the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue.
Prevost obtained his licentiate in 1984 and the following year, while preparing his doctoral thesis, was sent to the Augustinian mission in Chulucanas, Piura, Peru (1985–1986). In 1987, he defended his doctoral thesis on “The Role of the Local Prior in the Order of Saint Augustine” and was appointed vocation director and missions director of the Augustinian Province of “Mother of Good Counsel” in Olympia Fields, Illinois (USA).
Mission in Peru
The following year, he joined the mission in Trujillo, also in Peru, as director of the joint formation project for Augustinian candidates from the vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos, and Apurímac.
Over the course of eleven years, he served as prior of the community (1988–1992), formation director (1988–1998), and instructor for professed members (1992–1998), and in the Archdiocese of Trujillo as judicial vicar (1989–1998) and professor of Canon Law, Patristics, and Moral Theology at the Major Seminary “San Carlos y San Marcelo.” At the same time, he was also entrusted with the pastoral care of Our Lady Mother of the Church, later established as the parish of Saint Rita (1988–1999), in a poor suburb of the city, and was parish administrator of Our Lady of Monserrat from 1992 to 1999.
In 1999, he was elected Provincial Prior of the Augustinian Province of “Mother of Good Counsel” in Chicago, and two and a half years later, the ordinary General Chapter of the Order of Saint Augustine, elected him as Prior General, confirming him in 2007 for a second term.
In October 2013, he returned to his Augustinian Province in Chicago, serving as director of formation at the Saint Augustine Convent, first councilor, and provincial vicar—roles he held until Pope Francis appointed him on November 3, 2014, as Apostolic Administrator of the Peruvian Diocese of Chiclayo, elevating him to the episcopal dignity as Titular Bishop of Sufar.
He entered the Diocese on November 7, in the presence of Apostolic Nuncio James Patrick Green, who ordained him Bishop just over a month later, on December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the Cathedral of Saint Mary.
His episcopal motto is “In Illo uno unum”—words pronounced by Saint Augustine in a sermon on Psalm 127 to explain that “although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one.”
Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, from 2015 to 2023
On September 26, 2015, he was appointed Bishop of Chiclayo by Pope Francis. In March 2018, he was elected second vice-president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, where he also served as a member of the Economic Council and president of the Commission for Culture and Education.
In 2019, Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy (July 13, 2019), and in 2020, a member of the Congregation for Bishops (November 21). Meanwhile, on April 15, 2020, he was also appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Peruvian Diocese of Callao.
Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops
On January 30, 2023, the Pope called him to Rome as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, promoting him to the rank of Archbishop.
Created Cardinal in 2024
Pope Francis created him Cardinal in the Consistory of September 30 that year and assigned him the Diaconate of Saint Monica. He officially took possession of it on January 28, 2024.
As head of the Dicastery, he participated in the Pope’s most recent Apostolic Journeys and in both the first and second sessions of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality, held in Rome from October 4 to 29, 2023, and from October 2 to 27, 2024, respectively.
Meanwhile, on October 4, 2023, Pope Francis appointed him as a member of the Dicasteries for Evangelization (Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches), for the Doctrine of the Faith, for the Eastern Churches, for the Clergy, for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, for Culture and Education, for Legislative Texts, and of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State.
Finally, on February 6 of this year, the Argentine Pope promoted him to the Order of Bishops, granting him the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Albano.
Three days later, on February 9, he celebrated the Mass presided over by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of the Armed Forces, the second major event of the Holy Year of Hope.
During the most recent hospitalization of his predecessor at the “Gemelli” hospital Prevost presided over the Rosary for Pope Francis’s health in Saint Peter’s Square on March 3.
Faces Challenges
As Pope Leo XIV, he faces challenges such as the crisis of confidence due to abuse scandals, the decline in priestly vocations, and increasing secularization. In his first address, he emphasized the importance of peace, unity, and continuing the reforms of his predecessor, as well as committing to making the Church inclusive.
His election has been met with enthusiasm, particularly in the United States and Latin America, with hopes that his leadership will bring renewal and strengthen the Church’s mission in the modern era. With his rich background and extensive experience, Pope Leo XIV is expected to lead the Catholic Church towards a more inclusive, transparent, and relevant future.
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