Pope Leo XIV, the First American Pontiff, Took a Global Route to the Top Post
Robert Francis Prevost, who led the Vatican office that selects and manages bishops around the world, has spent much of his life outside the United States.
Robert Francis Prevost, who was elected the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday and took the name Pope Leo XIV, is the first pope from the United States.
The decision from the 133 voting cardinals, which arrived in a plume of white smoke at the end of their second day of voting inside the secrecy of the Sistine Chapel, defied longstanding belief that church leaders would never select a pope from a global superpower that already has considerable influence in world affairs.
Taking the name Pope Leo XIV, he shares Francis’ commitment to helping the poor and migrants. He was once the leader of his religious order, the Augustinians, whose members are called to live simply and devote themselves to ministering to those in need.
In his first address as pope to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square, he said in Italian, “We must seek together how to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, dialogue, always open to receive like this square with open arms.”
As an American, he is uniquely positioned to stand in contrast to the energized conservative Catholicism in his home country, and has pushed back forcefully against the militant vision of Christian power that the Trump administration has elevated.
Months before Cardinal Prevost became pope, a social media account under his name expressed criticism of Vice President JD Vance, who had asserted on Fox News that Christian theology could justify turning away migrants and strangers in need because it actually ranks caring for family first. The account posted on X that “J.D. Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”