VATICAN CITY — Habemus Papam! The Conclave officially came to an end after just two days as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th Pope, making history as the first American-born pontiff.
The 69-year-old was born in Chicago and was recently appointed by the late Pope Francis as the head of the Dicastery, responsible for the appointment of bishops and the archbishops in Chiclayo, Peru.
It was announced that Prevost chose the name Leo XIV as his papal name.
“Peace be with all you,” Pope Leo XIV said from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to a crowd of 150,000, according to Italian officials.
The decision to elect an American as Pope was a surprise, with many viewing the United States as already holding enough power in the world. Leo addressed the crowd in Spanish and Italian but not in English.
“We still hold in our ears that weak yet ever courageous voice of Pope Francis as he blessed Rome — the pope who blessed Rome, who gave his blessing to the world, to the whole world,” he said.
“Help us as well — help one another — to build bridges through dialogue, through encounter, uniting everyone to be one single people always in peace,” he added.
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte wished Leo well as the new leader of 1.4 billion Catholics.
“Naturalized Peruvian in 2015, he served our country with love and faith,” she wrote on social media. “In his first message as pontiff, he remembered with emotion his time in Chiclayo and his closeness with Peru.”
The crowds in St. Peter’s Square saw the white smoke just after 6 p.m. local time. The bells began to ring from the towering basilica as the smoke signaled the election of a new Pope as well as the end of deliberations.
The Catholic Church now has a successor to Pope Francis, who died April 21.
