Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost – now known as Pope Leo XIV — has been elected as the 267th Bishop of Rome and the first pontiff from the United States.
Born in Chicago in 1955, he served over a decade as a missionary in Trujillo, Peru, then led the Diocese of Chiclayo from 2014 to 2023. Leo most recently served as the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a powerful Vatican office charged with recommending new bishop appointments.
The papal name of Leo is seen as a reflection of his commitment to the poor. The last pope to take the name Leo, Pope Leo XIII who served from 1878 to 1903, had a strong emphasis on workers’ rights and Catholic social doctrine.
Leo is also the first pope of the Augustinian order, a global order named for St. Augustine. Speaking from the balcony of…
