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Catholic Church selects 1st American as leader, will serve as Pope Leo XIV

The Catholic Church has a new pope – and he’s American.

Chicago-born Robert Prevost, 69, became Pope Leo XIV today after cardinals in the Sistine Chapel picked the successor to Argentina’s Pope Francis.

Leo becomes the 267th occupant of the throne of St Peter, and the first American.

Crowds in the Vatican cheered with joy when they saw white smoke – signifying a successful election – coming from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney.

Leo then spoke from the chapel’s balcony, praising Francis, who appointed him as a cardinal in 2023.

About four-fifths of the cardinals who picked Leo were also appointed by the former pope. Unsurprisingly, Leo is deemed to represent a continuation of Francis’s reform-minded pontificate.

Despite his American origins, Leo, who has Ecuadorian and French heritage, spent many years in Peru, ultimately becoming a Peruvian national.

He spoke briefly in Spanish during his first address, which was delivered mostly in Italian.

He urged the crowd to unite “hand-in-hand with God,” adding: “Let us advance together.”

Francis died on April 21.



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