Who is Leo XIV, the first American pope?

White smoke billowed from chimney of Sistine Chapel to signal successor to Pope Francis had been elected

Then bishop Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, during a visit to Chulucanas, Peru, in 2024. AFP

Undated picture of Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV. Reuters

Undated picture of Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, with late former Pope John Paul II. Reuters

Undated picture of Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, with late former Pope Benedict XVI. Reuters

Pope Leo XIV, then Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo Robert Prevost, attends a Corpus Christi celebration at a stadium in Chiclayo, Peru, in 2015. AP

Pope Leo XIV, then Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo Robert Prevost, preaches during a Corpus Christi celebration in a stadium in Chiclayo, Peru, in 2015. AP

Pope Francis blesses Cardinal Robert Prevost during a consistory ceremony to elevate Roman Catholic prelates to the rank of cardinal, in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican, in 2023. Reuters

Cardinal Robert Prevost was named the new head of the Catholic Church on Thursday, taking the name Leo XIV. He is the first American pope in the church's 2,000-year history.

White smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel earlier to signal a successor to Pope Francis had been elected. The conclave of cardinals had gathered on Wednesday to choose the new leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics in a centuries-old ritual.

Pope Leo, 69, is a Peruvian-American prelate who was born in Chicago, Illinois. He joined the priesthood in 1981 and studied canon law at the Pontifical Saint Thomas Aquinas University in Rome. He was sent to Peru in 1988, where he served in a variety of church positions.

The new Pope was also twice elected prior general, or top leader, of the Augustinian religious order, the 13th-century order founded during the papacy of Innocent IV for friars seeking to follow the Rule of St Augustine from 400 CE. The previous pontiff, Pope Francis, who died on April 21, moved him from the Augustinian leadership back to Peru in 2014 to serve as the administrator and later archbishop of Chiclayo. He received Peruvian citizenship in 2015.

Pope Leo XIV elected: Cardinal Robert Prevost becomes first US pontiff

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In 2023, Pope Leo came to serve as the head of the church's Dicastery for Bishops, which gave him oversight of the selection of new bishops, one of the most powerful positions in the Vatican. That same year, he was also named as the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, where nearly 40 per cent of the world's Catholics live.

The new Pope is viewed as an overall centrist, though he has expressed support for progressive ideas such as ordaining women.

Out of the 266 popes who have led the Catholic Church since it was founded, only a handful have come from outside Europe. Pope Francis was the first pontiff to come from the Americas, having been born in Argentina.

"This election is historic for a number of reasons," Tobias Winright, professor of moral theology at St Patrick’s Pontifical University in Ireland, told The National, pointing out that not only is he American, but he is also a member of the Augustine Order.

"The name that he’s selected, Leo XIV, I believe indicates a commitment to continuing the developments in Catholic social teaching and ethics that Pope Leo XIII inaugurated in 1891 with his encyclical Rerum Novarum, 'On the Condition of Labour,' during a similarly tumultuous time in the world with regard to economic and social justice."

Mr Winright added that as he is regarded as a moderate, he hopes the new Pope will "build bridges and promote more progress towards establishing a better approximation of and witness to God’s will for justice and peace in our world".

US President Donald Trump congratulated the Pope following the announcement.

“It is such an honour to realise that he is the first American Pope,” the President wrote on his Truth Social platform. “What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”

Later, he said: "I was watching it and they said, he's from America. I said, that's great."

Pope Leo was not considered a frontrunner for the papacy due to his relative youth and inexperience, as well as his country of origin. The divisive rhetoric from the Trump administration has alienated many allies, and the Catholic Church is not immune to the global political climate.

"I don't see an issue with him being American. Every American is not Donald Trump," Wadie Abunassar, Co-ordinator of the Forum of Holy Land Christians, told The National. "He is a man of the Church. And the Church belongs to Jesus Christ."

Mr Abunassar added that whoever the pope is, he has an institution in the Catholic Church to help and guide him. "In the US, there are many people who follow the Catholic Church and ultimately the nationality does not matter much," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Winright reflected on the decision to choose Pope Leo in the context of his predecessor.

"He is probably the right person to follow Pope Francis," Mr Winright explained. "It sends a message that the US, the Global South and the church have something more hopeful and significant than what is being represented by President Trump and his supporters, Catholic or not."