VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Robert Prevost, a missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and leads the Vatican's powerful office of bishops, was elected the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.
Prevost, 69, took the name Leo XIV.
Before he was announced, white smoke poured from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and the great bells of St. Peter's Basilica tolled, indicating that cardinals had elected the 267th pope to lead the Catholic Church on the second day of their conclave.
In his first words, Pope Leo XIV said, “Peace be with you.”
From the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, he recalled that he was an Augustinian priest, but a Christian above all, and a bishop, “so we can all walk together.”
He spoke in Italian and then switched to Spanish, recalling his many years spent as a missionary and then archbishop of Chiclayo, Peru.
Before he appeared, when the white smoke wafted into the late afternoon sky at 6:07 p.m., the crowd in St. Peter's Square erupted in cheers, priests made the sign of the cross and nuns wept as the crowd shouted "Viva il papa!" Waving flags from around the world, tens of thousands of people waited to learn who had won.
The new pope secured at least 89 votes of the 133 cardinals participating in the conclave to elect the successor to Pope Francis.
