The first U.S.-born cardinal, Robert Francis Prevost, has been named the Roman pontiff on Thursday, taking the name Leo XIV.

Following the opening Mass (The Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff) on Wednesday, 133 cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel later that day to begin the conclave. To elect a new pope, a two-thirds majority was required, meaning at least 89 votes were needed out of 133 electors. On Thursday afternoon in Rome, the white smoke indicated the new pope had been selected.

Born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Cardinal Robert Prevost entered the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA) in 1977. After his ordination as a priest in 1982, Prevost joined the Augustinian mission in Peru. He returned to the U.S. and served in the roles of pastor for vocations and director of missions before returning to Peru, where he spent the next 10 years teaching canon law. He has served in many additional capacities, including former prefect of the influential Dicastery for Bishops.

Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo in 2014, and he was elevated to Bishop of Chiclayo in 2015. On September 30, 2023, Pope Franics elevated Prevost to the rank of Cardinal. Prevost shares views close to those of Pope Francis and is noted for playing an important role in ensuring institutional stability in Peru during successive political crises. 

His educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Villanova University, a Master of Divinity from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and both a licentiate and doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. 

From www.catholicsun.org/2025/05/08/the-church-welcomes-new-pope

How is a new Pope chosen?

From www.usccb.org/offices/public-affairs/how-new-pope-chosen

When a pope dies or resigns, the governance of the Catholic Church passes to the College of Cardinals. Cardinals are bishops and Vatican officials from all over the world, personally chosen by the pope, recognizable by their distinctive red vestments.

Following a vacancy in the papacy, the cardinals hold a series of meetings at the Vatican called general congregations. They discuss the needs and the challenges facing the Catholic Church globally. They will also prepare for the upcoming papal election, called a conclave. Decisions that only the pope can make, such as appointing a bishop or convening the Synod of Bishops, must wait till after the election. In the past, they made arrangements for the funeral and burial of the deceased pope.

In the past, 15 to 20 days after a papal vacancy, the cardinals gathered in St. Peter's Basilica for a Mass invoking the guidance of the Holy Spirit in electing a new pope. Only cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote in a conclave. They are known as the cardinal electors.

For the conclave itself, the cardinal electors process to the Sistine Chapel and take an oath of absolute secrecy before sealing the doors.

The cardinals vote by secret ballot, processing one by one up to Michelangelo's fresco of the Last Judgment, saying a prayer and dropping the twice-folded ballot in a large chalice. Four rounds of balloting are taken every day until a candidate receives two-thirds of the vote. The result of each ballot are counted aloud and recorded by three cardinals designated as recorders. If no one receives the necessary two-thirds of the vote, the ballots are burned in a stove near the chapel with a mixture of chemicals to produce black smoke.

When a cardinal receives the necessary two-thirds vote, the dean of the College of Cardinals asks him if he accepts his election. If he accepts, he chooses a papal name and is dressed in papal vestments before processing out to the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. The ballots of the final round are burned with chemicals producing white smoke to signal to the world the election of a new pope.

The senior cardinal deacon, currently French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, announces from the balcony of St. Peter's "Habemus Papam" ("We have a pope") before the new pope processes out and imparts his blessing on the city of Rome and the entire world.

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