Pope Leo XIV – The Second Pope from the Americas

The conclave of 133 Cardinals, 108 of whom were appointed by the late Pope Francis from far flung parts of the world, needed only four rounds of secret ballot to swiftly settle on Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the new Pope.

- BY RAJAN PHILIPS

They could not have decided on a worthier successor to Pope Francis. The Chicago-born Prevost served as a lifelong missionary in Peru. Pope Francis made Prevost the Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru in 2015, and elevated him to the College of Cardinals eight years later in 2023. He was concurrently appointed as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, an influential position that looks after the appointment and guidance of Catholic Bishops everywhere.

This past February, the late Pope inducted Cardinal Prevost into the exclusive order of Cardinal Bishops. To Vatican insiders, this was a clear sign of “papal trust and favour” even though the two men of the cloth were not seen as always agreeing on everything.

Americans are lapping it up as the first selection of an American pope in history. Pope Bobby from Chicago. But an early news release from the Vatican would seem to have called Prevost the Second Pope from the Americas. It is Cardinal Prevost’s US-Peruvian dual national status that may have found a strong group of 18 cardinals from Latin America emerging as early supporters and facilitating the quick coalescing to achieve the required support of two-thirds of the cardinals.

The current diversity of the College would have certainly helped and many of the Cardinals apparently saw Prevost as one who would continue the legacy of Francis while reaching out to others who were not wholly inspired by the late pontiff. The new Pope demonstrated both continuity with Francis and a throwback to tradition in his first formal appearance, prayer and blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.