Raphael Warjri

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected as the 267th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, becoming the first American to ascend to the papacy. He has taken the papal name Pope Leo XIV.

The announcement came on the second day of the conclave, where Prevost was chosen to lead the global Catholic community, which numbers approximately 1.4 billion faithful. In his first address, the new pontiff offered a message of peace to his followers, stating, “May peace be with you.”

Born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, Prevost is the son of Louis Marius Prevost, originally from France, and Mildred Martínez, of Spanish descent. He has two brothers, Louis Martín and John Joseph.

Pope Leo XIV spent his early years in Chicago, where he was raised in a devout Catholic household. He began his religious formation at the Minor Seminary of the Augustinian Fathers and later attended Villanova University in Pennsylvania. In 1977, he earned a degree in mathematics and also studied philosophy, laying the foundation for his future in religious leadership.

Prevost’s historic election marks a new chapter for the Catholic Church as it embraces leadership from the Americas for the first time in its centuries-long history.