Cardinal Robert Prevost Elected First U.S.-Born Pope
He spent two decades ministering to the poor and the marginalized in Peru.
This story has been updated.
By Gary Gately
Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who spent two decades ministering to the poor and marginalized in Peru, has been elected the first American-born pope in the 2,000-history of the Catholic Church.
Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the 781-year-old Augustinian religious order who took the name Leo XIV, appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at 7:14 p.m. Rome time Thursday.
“Peace be with you,” Prevost said in his first public words as the 267th leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church, drawing thunderous applause and joyous shouts of “Viva il papa!” (“Long live the pope!”) from tens of thousands of the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
Speaking in Italian and Spanish, Prevost invoked Pope Francis’ message during the pontiff’s last public appearance, delivered in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday, the day before he died at age 88.
“Allow me to continue that same blessing: God loves everyone; evil will not prevail,” Prevost said. “We are all in the hands of God. So without fear, united hand and hand with God and among ourselves, we go forward…. as a united Church searching all together for peace and justice.”
Prevost, who had been a close ally of Francis, said he would seek to foster a “synodal,” or more inclusive, Church, one of his predecessor’s signature, multi-year reforms.
The new pontiff, who as an Augustinian took a vow of poverty, added: “We have to look together how to be a missionary Church, building bridges, dialogue, always open to receiving with open arms for everyone, like this square, open to all, to all who need our charity, our presence, dialogue and love.”
Prevost then quoted St. Augustine: “With you I am a Christian, for you a bishop."
The election of Prevost came on the fourth round of voting in the conclave that began Wednesday beneath Michelangelo’s magnificent frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.
White smoke billowed from the chapel’s chimney just after 6 p.m. Rome time Thursday, signaling that the Prevost had received the two-thirds majority of the 133 voting cardinals needed to be elected pope. The throngs of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square — and millions more who watched on television and social media — rejoiced.
Prevost, who was elevated from an archbishop to a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023, overcame the Vatican’s historical opposition to having a pontiff from the U.S. because it already wields enough influence as a global superpower without an American taking over the papacy as well.
Since January 2023, Prevost has served as head of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, which vets bishop nominations from throughout the world, as well as the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
He appears to share many of Francis’ views on synodality, immigration, climate change, abolition of the death penalty, advocacy for the poor and the marginalized, as well as opposition to abortion and the ordination of women.
But some of Prevost’s previous comments on homosexuality, as well as his handling of clergy sexual abuse allegations, drew criticism from advocates Thursday.
Francis, the first Latin American pope and first non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years, appointed 108 — or about 80% — of voting cardinals in the conclave that elected Prevost.
His election unfolded against a backdrop of polarization among prelates and lay Catholics alike.
Francis drew widespread praise among more progressive Catholics for his commitment to making the Church more inclusive, his humility, his humanity, his message of hope and mercy, and his tireless advocacy for the poor, the marginalized and migrants
Some conservative Catholic leaders and lay people, however, criticized Francis for what they viewed as his undermining traditional Catholic teachings by welcoming LGBTQ+ Catholics, giving women and lay people a greater role in the Church, allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, and restricting celebration of the old Latin Mass, which he deemed exclusionary.
In the U.S., Francis also has drawn relentless criticism from some conservative Catholics and Republican elected officials because of his outspokenness on climate change, his insistence that countries open their borders to desperate migrants and his sharp criticisms of capitalism.
But 6 in 10 U.S. Catholics want a “more inclusive” Church even if that means changing some of its teachings, a Pew Research Center survey released last week found. The survey, based on responses just before Pope Francis entered the hospital on February 14, found that 84% of U.S. Catholics said the Church should allow Catholics to use birth control; 83% said the Church should allow couples to use in vitro fertilization; 68% said the Church should allow women to become deacons; 63% said the Church should allow priests to marry; and 59% said the Church should ordain women as priests; and 50% said the Church should recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples.
In the northwestern Peru coastal city of Chiclayo, where Prevost served as bishop from 2015 until 2023, jubilant Catholics took to the streets and church bells rang out.
Throughout the South American nation, social media exploded with memes of Prevost eating ceviche, considered its national dish; drinking the popular bubblegum-flavored soda Inca Kola; sporting the red-and-white-striped jerseys of the national soccer team, La Blanquirroja; and cruising in a popemobile refashioned as a three-wheeled motorcycle rickshaw, the main mode of transportation in much of the country.
“We have to look together how to be a missionary Church, building bridges, dialogue, always open to receiving with open arms for everyone, like this square, open to all, to all who need our charity, our presence, dialogue and love.” — Pope Leo XIV
Peru’s president, Dina Boluarte, hailed the “historic” election of Leo XIV, describing him as Peruvian “by choice and conviction.”
In a video message, Boluarte said: “His Holiness lived and served for years in our country, where he shared the life of the people with humility, love and deep faith. His closeness to the most needy left an indelible mark in our hearts…. The pope is Peruvian; God loves Peru.”
But Prevost has criticized Boluarte’s government, including in early 2023, when he expressed his “sadness and pain” over the deaths of 49 protesters in anti-government demonstrations. They erupted after Boluarte took office in December 2022, replacing Pedro Castillo, who was forced out for attempting to suspend congress.
“This conflict does not represent the best of the country,” Prevost said at the time, lamenting that the unrest reflected historic neglect of Peru’s poor.
In Prevost’s native Chicago, Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson shared his hometown pride, celebrating the election of the South Side boy who had dreamed of becoming a priest since he was a young boy.
Johnson posted on X: “Everything dope, including the pope, comes from Chicago! Congratulations to the first American Pope Leo XIV! We hope to welcome you back home soon.”
For his part, President Donald J. Trump posted on social media: “Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country.”
Trump said he looks forward to meeting Prevost.
Francis had repeatedly criticized Trump over his hardline immigration policies. And Prevost’s X account (formerly Twitter) reposted several opinion pieces criticizing the Trump administration’s immigration policies and one National Catholic Reporter commentary rebuking the Catholic vice president, JD Vance, for attempting to invoke medieval Church theology to justify the policies.
At a time when humanitarian groups say deep cutbacks in U.S. foreign aid threaten millions of lives, Sean Callahan, president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, called Prevost’s election a "momentous occasion for American Catholics."
"Pope Leo XIV's global experience will surely have an impact on his papacy," Callahan said in a statement. "He has seen, firsthand, the struggles that our sisters and brothers around the world are experiencing. We are confident that he will be a voice for the voiceless and a fierce supporter of human dignity for all people."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated Prevost for his election and said he hoped to continue to work with the Vatican as its war with Russia drags on.
“Ukraine deeply values the Holy See’s consistent position in upholding international law, condemning the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine, and protecting the rights of innocent civilians,” Zelenskyy posted on X. “At this decisive moment for our country, we hope for the continued moral and spiritual support of the Vatican in Ukraine’s efforts to restore justice and achieve a lasting peace.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke of the “long legacy of cooperation between the United Nations and the Holy See — nurtured most recently by Pope Francis — to advance solidarity, foster reconciliation, and build a just and sustainable world for all.”
“The election of a new pope is a moment of profound spiritual significance for millions of faithful around the world, and it comes at a time of great global challenges,” Guterres said. “Our world is in need of the strongest voices for peace, social justice, human dignity and compassion.”
Anna Marie Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, said the advocacy group is “filled with hope that Pope Leo XIV will prioritize the voices and needs of migrants.”
“Pope Leo XIV's long history of working with marginalized communities, including immigrants, gives us confidence that he will continue to build on the Church's rich tradition of advocacy for the most vulnerable,” Gallagher added.
“As Americans, we pray he will have particular insight into how the Church in the United States can live out the Gospel call to welcome the stranger. May the election of Pope Leo XIV inspire us all to continue working together for a world where the dignity of every person is honored, especially those who have been displaced from their homes and are in search of a better future.”
Prevost has also drawn praise for sharing Pope Francis’ alarm over the devastating consequences of climate change, particularly on poorer countries.
At a Rome conference in November, Prevost warned that it is time to move “from words to action,” based on Church teaching that we are the stewards of God’s creation. “Dominion over nature,” he said, should not become “tyrannical” but instead be based on a “relationship of reciprocity” with the environment.
Like Francis, Prevost has also expressed opposition to the ordination of women, to the chagrin of those who have advocated for it for years. But as a cardinal, Prevost carried out one of Francis’ reforms by putting three women on a Vatican board that vets nominations of bishops.
The Women’s Ordination Conference, which advocates for ordaining women as deacons and priests, welcomed the election of Prevost as pope.
“His clear emphasis on bridge-building and dialogue offer WOC hope that Pope Leo XIV might be a leader who will also build bridges to Catholic women, who long for their baptismal equality to be fully realized,” the group said in a statement. “We pray that his support for synodality motivates the whole church toward a long-overdue day when women are recognized as equals in Christ, and their vocations are trusted, welcomed, and celebrated.”
On another hot-button issue, LGBTQ+ Catholics, Francis had made outreach to them a hallmark of his 12-year papacy, without veering from Church teaching that homosexual acts are sinful.
Asked about gay priests in 2013, he famously replied: “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
But Prevost has drawn criticism for comments he made at a 2012 address to bishops, reported by The New York Times, in which he lamented that Western news media and popular culture fostered “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the Gospel,” including the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”
Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, a Catholic LGBTQ+ advocacy group, said in an email that Prevost’s “stated commitment to synodality is a positive sign that we might see progress towards greater inclusion in our Church.”
She noted that Prevost’s 2012 statements came during the papacy of Benedict XVI, “when doctrinal adherence appeared to be expected” and “the voices of LGBTQ+ people were rarely heard at that level of Church leadership.”
“We pray that the needs of those whom our church has historically marginalized, including LGBTQ people and their families, will continue to be heard and addressed by the Vatican and other church leaders,” Duddy-Burke said.
And Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, an advocacy group for LGBTQ+ Catholics, said in a statement: "We pray that in the 13 years that have passed, 12 of which were under the papacy of Pope Francis, that [Prevost’s[ heart and mind have developed more progressively on LGBTQ+ issues, and we will take a wait-and-see attitude to see if that has happened."
Like Francis, Prevost also has expressed opposition to “gender ideology,” or the idea that one’s gender can be changed, which the Vatican strongly condemned in April 2024.
While bishop of Chiclayo, Prevost opposed a government initiative to promote gender ideology teachings in schools. “The promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist,” he told local media at the time.
Russ Petrus, executive director of FutureChurch — which advocates for LGBTQ+ Catholics and for the ordination of women and allowing priests to marry — called Prevost’s election “a hopeful sign that the cardinals remain committed to synodality and to advancing justice in the world.”
But Petrus faulted Prevost for his previous statements denigrating LGBTQ+ people and opposing ordination of women.
“At FutureChurch, we remain steadfast in our commitment to advocating for the full and equal participation of all people in the life, ministry and leadership of the Church,” Petrus said. “We pray that Pope Leo XIV will be an ally in this ongoing work and that his papacy will carry forward and deepen the vision of a listening, inclusive, loving, and missionary Church.”
Like many other Catholic prelates, Prevost’s record on handling allegations of sexual abuse by priests has also drawn scrutiny.
On Thursday, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a support group for victims of clergy abuse, pointed to Prevost’s response to sexual abuse cases in Chicago and Peru.
SNAP cited claims from three sisters in Prevost’s former Diocese of Chiclayo that he did not open an investigation after they reported in 2022 that they had been abused by two priests. The sisters also alleged that documentation sent to the Vatican about the case had been purposely designed to appear inadequate.
The diocese said the accusations had been handled according to Church policy and that Prevost had met with the young women, opened a canonical investigation and encouraged them to take their case to civil authorities, The Pillar first reported in September 2024.
The Catholic publication reported that the diocese said a civil investigation into the allegations ended for lack of evidence and because the statute of limitations had expired.
In another case cited by SNAP, and first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times in February 2021 — also drew attention amid Prevost’s candidacy.
In 2000, while serving as head of the Augustinian Midwest Province in Chicago, the newspaper reported, Prevost let a Chicago archdiocesan priest who sexually abused minors live at St. John Stone Friary, a house of the Chicago province of the Augustinian religious order, a half-block from a parish elementary school.
Diocesean records obtained by The Pillar in March 2021 revealed that the priest, Father James Ray, had been restricted from ministry for nine years after being accused of sexually abusing boys multiple times. The records also showed that the Augustinians at the friary said they would let Ray rent a room in the building after receiving permission from their provincial superior, Prevost.
A Catholic school principal had warned the archdiocese years earlier that Ray sometimes took children out of class, and that he was “touchy-tender” with some students, The Pillar reported.
The Sun-Times reported last June that the Augustinians paid a $2 million settlement to one of Ray’s victims, Robert Krankvich.
The Vatican denied any wrongdoing by Prevost in both the Chicago and Peru cases, and he has not commented.
In a letter to Prevost Thursday, SNAP wrote: “Why are tens of thousands of clerics, known by you and your fellow bishops around the world to have raped and sexually assaulted children and the vulnerable, still in ministry today? Why can any bishop in the world, including you, cover up instances of rape and transfer offenders to new assignments where they are likely to abuse again?”
The group called for a “universal zero-tolerance law enacted into canon law, removing all abusers and complicit officials”; a “reparations fund” supported by the Church to provide victims financial restitution, education and psychological care; and “acts of restitution” by the Church, including memorials and official public acknowledgements of abuse.
LifeSiteNews, a Canadian Catholic conservative website that has been outspoken in its opposition to Francis and support of Trump and other conservative U.S. politicians, weighed in with its view of Prevost within an hour of his election.
“The conclave has chosen an anti-Trump, pro-Synod American — Robert Prevost, now known as Leo XIV — to succeed Francis,” the site said.
It condemned Prevost for his role as head of the Congregation for Bishops in the 2023 removal of Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland, who in recent years had questioned the safety of coronavirus vaccines, called synodality “garbage” and endorsed a video that attacked Francis as a "diabolically disoriented clown."
“The conclave has chosen an anti-Trump, pro-Synod American — Robert Prevost, now known as Leo XIV — to succeed Francis.” — LifeSiteNews
LifeSiteNews also said Prevost had “placed openly heterodox bishops in sees worldwide” and repeated unsubstantiated allegations that Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, who became archbishop of Washington in March, had covered up sexual abuse of children and seminarians by former Washington Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick. The disgraced prelate, who was expelled from the priesthood after the church found him guilty of sexual abuse, died in April.
But the progressive group Catholics Vote Common Good expressed a decidedly different view of the new pontiff.
"As progressive American Catholics, our prayers have been answered," Denise Murphy McGraw, the group’s national co-chairperson, said in a statement.
“It's a new day for modern American Catholicism and we look forward to working tirelessly to help engage as many progressive Catholics in the United States as possible,” McGraw added.
Prevost was born on Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago to Louis Marius Prevost, a school superintendent and World War II veteran of French and Italian descent, and Mildred Martínez, a librarian of Spanish descent.
The new Bishop of Rome, who has two brothers, served as an altar boy at St. Mary of the Assumption Church on Chicago’s South Side. He studied at the Minor Seminary of the Augustinian Fathers and then at Villanova University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1977 in math.
He received his theological education at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and was ordained in 1982 at age 27, then earned his doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
Over a span of two decades, he Prevost served in Peru as a missionary, parish priest, seminary teacher and judge in a church court. He first served in Peru in Chulucanas, Piura, in the northern part of the country, starting in 1985. Then, after a brief stint as vocations director and missions director of an Augustinian province in Illinois, he returned to Peru.
He worked for 11 years in Trujillo, Peru, in the northwestern part of the country, and in Chiclayo, in northern Peru, from 2015, when Pope Francis appointed him bishop, until 2023.
The new pontiff says his true calling hasn’t changed.
“I still consider myself a missionary,” he told Vatican News in May 2023. “My vocation, like that of every Christian, is to be a missionary, to proclaim the Gospel wherever one is.”
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