Even before his name was announced from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, the crowds below were chanting “Viva il Papa” – Long live the Pope.
Robert Prevost, 69, will be the 267th occupant of the throne of St Peter and he will be known as Leo XIV.
He is the first American to fill the role of pope, although he is considered as much a cardinal from Latin America because of the many years he spent as a missionary in Peru, before becoming a bishop there.
Born in Chicago in 1955 to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian descent, Prevost served as an altar boy and was ordained as a priest in 1982. Although he moved to Peru three years later, he returned regularly to the US to serve as a pastor and a prior in his home city.
He has Peruvian nationality and is fondly remembered as a figure who worked with marginalised communities and helped build bridges.
He spent 10 years as a local parish pastor and as a teacher at a seminary in Trujillo in north-western Peru.
In his first words as Pope, Leo XIV spoke fondly of his predecessor Francis.
“We still hear in our ears the weak but always courageous voice of Pope Francis who blessed us,” he said.
“United and hand in hand with God, let us advance together,” he told cheering crowds.
He also spoke of his role in the Augustinian Order. He was 30 when he moved to Peru as part of an Augustinian mission.
In 2014, Francis made him Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru.
He is well known to cardinals because of his high-profile role as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in Latin America which has the important task of selecting and supervising bishops.
He became archbishop in January 2023 and within a few months Francis made him a cardinal.
As 80% of the cardinals who took part in the conclave were appointed by Francis, it is not all that surprising that someone like Prevost was elected.
Early attention will focus on Leo XIV’s pronouncements to see whether he will continue his predecessor’s reforms in the Roman Catholic Church.
Prevost is believed to have shared Francis’ views on migrants, the poor and the environment.
A former roommate of his, Reverend John Lydon, described Prevost to the BBC as “outgoing”, “down to earth” and “very concerned with the poor”.
On his personal background, Prevost told Italian network Rai before his election that he grew up in a family of immigrants.
“I was born in the United States…But my grandparents were all immigrants, French, Spanish… I was raised in a very Catholic family, both of my parents were very engaged in the parish,” he said.
Although Prevost is an American, and will be fully aware of the divisions within the Catholic Church, his Latin American background also represents continuity after a pope who came from Argentina.
The Vatican described him as the second pope from the Americas, as well as the first Augustinian pope.
During his time in Peru, was unable to escape the sexual abuse scandals that have clouded the Church, even though his diocese has fervently denied he has been involved in any attempted cover-up.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that during gatherings of the College of Cardinals in the days before the conclave, members had emphasised the need for a pope with “a prophetic spirit capable of leading a Church that does not close in on itself but knows how to go out and bring light to a world marked by despair”.
In choosing the name Leo, Prevost has signified a commitment to dynamic social issues, according to experts.
The first pope to use the name Leo, whose papacy ended in 461, met Attila the Hun and persuaded him not to attack Rome. The last Pope Leo led the Church from 1878 to 1903 and wrote an influential treatise on workers’ rights.
Former Archbishop of Boston Seán Patrick O’Malley wrote on his blog that the new pontiff “has chosen a name widely associated with the social justice legacy of Pope Leo XIII, who was pontiff at a time of epic upheaval in the world, the time of the industrial revolution, the beginning of Marxism, and widespread immigration”.
The new Pope’s LGBT views are unclear, but some groups, including the conservative College of Cardinals, believe he may be less supportive than Francis.
Leo XIV has shown support for a papal declaration from Francis to permit blessings for same-sex couples and others in “irregular situations”, although he has added that bishops must interpret such directives in accordance with local contexts and cultures.
Speaking last year about climate change, Prevost said that it was time to move “from words to action”.
“Dominion over nature” should not become “tyrannical,” he said. He called on mankind to build a “relationship of reciprocity” with the environment.
And he has spoken about concrete measures at the Vatican, including the installation of solar panels and the adoption of electric vehicles.
Pope Leo has supported Pope Francis’ decision to allow women to join the Dicastery for Bishops for the first time, giving them input on those appointments.
“On several occasions we have seen that their point of view is an enrichment,” he told Vatican News in 2023.
In 2024, he told the Catholic News Service that their presence “contributes significantly to the process of discernment in looking for who we hope are the best candidates to serve the Church in episcopal ministry”.
