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The Vatican has announced the first American leader of the Catholic Church – Robert Prevost, who will be known as Pope Leo XIV.
The 69-year-old cardinal was born in Chicago and spent years as a missionary in Peru.
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He was appointed Cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023 and appointed the head of the Dicaggy for the bishops, a strong position responsible for choosing new bishops.
Significantly, he led one of Francis’s most revolutionary reforms when he added three women to the voting block who decided the bishop nominations sent to the Pope.
As a cardinal, he did not talk much about the main issues of the church, but some of his positions were known.
He was reportedly very close to Francis’s vision of the environment, outreach to the poor and migrants. He said in 2024 “The bishop should not be a small prince who sat in his kingdom”.
He also supported Pope Francis’s attitude about allowing divorced Catholics and remarried to receive holy banquet.
However, he only showed light support for Francis which allowed priests to bless the same -sex couples.
Cardinal Prevost was appointed by Francis in 2023. PIC: EPA/Shutterstock
Pope Leo has years of experience in the role of leadership in the church.
He was chosen twice as the top position of the Augustinian and Francis religious order clearly watching his progress – moved him from the leadership of Agustinian back to Peru in 2014, where he served as an administrator and then the Archbishop of Chiclayo.
He gained peru citizenship in 2015 and remained in Chiclayo until 2023, when Francis took him to Rome.
Pope Leo’s years in Peru made him a more universal candidate for the papado. Pic: Ap
While there has been a long time taboo against the American whale – given the geopolitical power that has been held by the US – Leo is promoted as a “compromise candidate” in front of the conclave.
The amount of time he spent in Peru also allowed him to be seen as a more universal candidate than Americans.
The world knows that the new Pope was chosen around 18:08 local time (17:08 UK time) on Thursday when white smoke suddenly appeared from the sistine chapel chimney.
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The first chosen US Pope
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The new whale chosen with a conclave
133 Cardinals are exiled in the chapel to choose a new leader of the Catholic Church on the second day of the conclave.
When smoke appears, cheers rises in St. Peter’s field, where thousands of people gather in the hope of witnessing history.
More than an hour later, Pope was introduced In the Balcony Basilica St. Peter as a crowd of around 50,000 people viewed.
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Pope Leo’s first speech
Giving the address of the balcony, Pope Leo – Speaking in Italian – tell the crowd: “Peace with all of you.”
He then thanked his predecessor and repeatedly the call of Francis for a church involved with the modern world and “always looking for peace, charity and close to people, especially those who suffer”.
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‘May peace with all of you’
“Together, we must try to find out how to become a church that builds a bridge, building dialogue and is open to accept everyone,” he said.
Speaking in Spanish, he added: “I really want to greet my colleagues from Peru.
“It’s fun for me to work at Peru.”
