CNN
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Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the US has been elected the 267th pope and has stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as the brand new chief of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
He’s now referred to as Pope Leo XIV.
Prevost, 69, from Chicago, Illinois, is the primary ever pope from the US.
In his first phrases as pope, a visibly emotional Leo mentioned to the group in St. Peter’s Sq.: “Peace be with you all.”
Addressing the group in St. Peter’s Sq., Leo paid tribute to the late pontiff Francis, urging the group to recollect his predecessor’s legacy earlier than outlining his imaginative and prescient for the Catholic Church.
“Now we have to hunt collectively to be a missionary church. A church that builds bridges and dialogue,” he mentioned. Talking in Italian to 1000’s of Catholic trustworthy, Leo known as on folks to “present our charity” to others “and be in dialog with love.”
Leo was chosen simply two days after a bunch of 133 Cardinals gathered in conclave to pick a brand new pontiff.
That timeline matches the earlier two gatherings, suggesting that Prevost shortly impressed his friends throughout the secretive course of.
Francis and Benedict XVI have been each revealed within the night of the conclave’s second day, whereas John Paul II, the longest-reigning pope of contemporary instances, was chosen on the third day in 1978.
A frontrunner with world expertise, Prevost spent a lot of his profession as a missionary in South America and most not too long ago led a robust Vatican workplace for bishop appointments. He’s anticipated to construct on Francis’ reforms.
Prevost labored for a decade in Trujillo, Peru, and was later appointed bishop of Chiclayo, one other Peruvian metropolis, the place he served from 2014 to 2023. In 2015, he additionally acquired Peruvian citizenship.
The brand new pontiff is a member of the Augustinian spiritual order – which he additionally led for greater than a decade as their prior basic, which has given him management expertise of main an order unfold the world over.
Thought-about a extremely succesful and achieved chief, Prevost most not too long ago led the highly effective Vatican workplace for brand spanking new bishop appointments, the Dicastery for Bishops, assessing candidates and making suggestions to the late pope. He additionally served because the president of the Pontifical Fee for Latin America.
Whereas it’s usually mentioned cardinal electors would all the time draw back from selecting a pope from the US, as a result of America’s outsized world political affect, Prevost’s lengthy expertise in Peru might have mitigated these fears among the many electors.
“He’s anyone that, regardless that he’s from the West, can be very attentive to the wants of a worldwide church,” mentioned Elise Allen, CNN’s Vatican analyst. “You’re speaking about anyone who spent over half of his ecclesial profession overseas as a missionary in Peru.”
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