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Here’s what to know about Pope Francis’ successor, who was chosen on Thursday. He is the first American pope and will be known as Leo XIV.
May 8, 2025, 2:07 p.m. ET
Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th pope on Thursday by 133 cardinals to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics. The first pope from the United States, he chose the name Leo XIV.
Here’s what to know about the new pope, how he was chosen and the issues he will face as the successor to Pope Francis, who died last month at 88.
Who is the new pope?
Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was born in Chicago and served for two decades in Peru, where he became a bishop and a naturalized citizen, then rose to lead his international religious order. Until the death of his predecessor, Pope Francis, he held one of the most influential Vatican posts, running the office that selects and manages bishops globally.
A member of the Order of St. Augustine, he resembles Francis in his commitment to the poor and migrants, and to meeting people where they are. He told the Vatican’s official news website last year that “the bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom.”
He has spent much of his life outside the United States. Ordained in 1982 at 27, he received a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. In Peru, he was a missionary, parish priest, teacher and bishop. As the Augustinians’ leader, he visited orders around the world. He also speaks Spanish and Italian.
