[UPDATED] Leo XIV, the first US pope

THE 267th pope has been elected.

He is Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost. Prevost will be the first elected Pope from the US in history.

He is taking on the name Leo XIV.

Born in 1977, the 69-year-old Prevost entered the novitiate (as a novice) of the Order of Saint Augustine in the province of our Lady of Good Counsel in St Louis.

He gave his vows in August 1981 and studied at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago, receiving his diploma in theology.

He began studying canon law at the Pontifical Saint Thomas Aquinas University at 27, where he received priestly ordination on June 19, 1982. After receiving his licence in 1982, he was sent to work in the mission of Chulucanas in Pirua, Peru from 1985.

In 1987 he was awarded a doctorate with the thesis: “The role of the local prior in the order of Saint Augustine.”

That year he was also elected director of vocations and the missions of the Augustinian province of Olympia Fields in Illinois.

He served as a community prior and director of a joint mission in Trujillo up until 1992 and taught in the archdiocese of Trujillo until 1998.

In 2020, Prevost was appointed apostolic administrator of the diocese of Callao by pope Francis. He was later appointed as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America in 2023.

Prevost was among 133 cardinal electors that entered the conclave in the Sistine Chapel after Pope Francis’ death on April 21.

The conclave gathered on May 7, 16 days after Francis’ death. The two-day conclave went to two votes before the result was announced.

After he was announced, the new pope exited the Sistine Chapel in traditional papal vestments to greet the people at Vatican City.

“Dearest brothers and sisters this is peace of the resurrected Christ, the good shepherd who has given up even his life for God. I should also like this greeting of peace to enter our hearts and your families and to all people wherever they are. All people throughout the world. Peace be with you.

“This is the peace of the resurrected Christ, a humble and persevering peace which comes from God.

Congratulations from around the world have already begun to pour in, including from TT

“As a Roman Catholic I celebrate with the church on the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Leo XIV,” said Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West MP Stuart Young.

Archbishop Jason Charles Gordon said he was happy to hear that there was a new Pope.

He pointed out that the name chosen by the pope is always significant.

“Leo the XIII is a very significant pope. He was known for his work on social justice and the Bible and making the Bible central to the church. He has taken the role of Leo XIV which says something about his papacy with the matters of justice and biblical faith and settling a society in the midst of turmoil.”

This story has been updated to include additional details. See original post below.

THE 267th pope has been elected.

He is Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost. Prevost will be the first elected Pope from the US in history.

Cardinal Prevost was the leader of the Vatican’s office for the Dicastery of Bishops, a department within the Roman Catholic Church that oversees the selection of new bishops.

He also spent many years as a missionary in Peru. He was the leader of the Augustinian order.

He was also known as an experienced and wise leader.

The new Pope used the name Leo XIV, known for championing the plight of the poor and of workers.