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Robert Francis Prevost was elected on Thursday to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics, making him the first pope from the United States. He chose the name Leo XIV.
On Friday, he presided over his first Mass as pope, calling for “missionary outreach” to help heal the “wounds that afflict our society.”
Here’s what to know about the new pope, how he was chosen from the many contenders, 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.
Despite his American roots, his life has transcended borders. He served for two decades in Peru, where he became a bishop and a naturalized citizen, then rose to lead his international religious order.
Leading up to the death of his predecessor, Cardinal Prevost 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.
A pope from Chicago
Many Catholics marveled at the announcement of the first American pope, something that had long seemed impossible. But in Chicago, they heard something else: The pope was one of their own.
Robert Francis Prevost hails from the Chicago area, where he grew up in a suburb just south of the city and attended a Catholic church and school on Chicago’s South Side.
He has two brothers: John Prevost, 71, of New Lenox, Ill., who is retired from a career as an educator and school principal; and Louis Prevost, 73, of Port Charlotte, Florida, who has described himself as a “MAGA type.”
The brothers grew up in Dolton, Ill., just outside Chicago, and attended church and school at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish on Chicago’s South Side. Their father, Louis Prevost, was a school superintendent and their mother, Mildred Prevost, was a librarian who was deeply involved in parish life.
The pope retained ties to Illinois throughout his life, returning at various points for postings with the Augustinians. He has continued to vote in his home state, public records show, including casting an absentee ballot in the November presidential election.
In a city where baseball allegiance has no middle ground, one of the first questions people asked was whether the Chicago-born pope cheered for the Chicago White Sox or the Chicago Cubs.
By afternoon, the marquee at Wrigley Field declared that the new pope was a Cubs fan. But the pope’s brother, John Prevost, set the record straight to a local television station.
“He was never, ever a Cubs fan,” Mr. Prevost said. “So I don’t know where that came from. He was always a Sox fan.”
How did he choose his name?
What’s in a name? A lot, it turns out.
A Vatican spokesman said Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost’s choice to be called Pope Leo XIV was a clear and deliberate reference to the last Leo, who led during a difficult time for the Roman Catholic Church and helped marshal it into the modern world.
Leo XIII — who was head of the church from 1878 to 1903, one of the longest reigns in papal history — is known for his 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” which strongly defended the right of working people to a living wage and set the tone for the church’s modern social doctrine. He became known as the “pope of the workers.”
Leo XIII “called on the church to reach out to the working class,” said David I. Kertzer, a professor at Brown University, and “to work out an amicable relationship between capital and labor”
What languages does he speak?
The pope is fluent in English, Spanish and Italian.
What are his genealogical roots?
Pope Leo is descended from Creole people of color from New Orleans.
The pope’s maternal grandparents, both of whom are described as Black or of mixed race in various historical records, lived in the city’s Seventh Ward, an area that is traditionally Catholic and a melting pot of people with African, Caribbean and European roots.
The grandparents, Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié, eventually moved to Chicago in the early 20th century and had a daughter — Mildred Martinez, the pope’s mother.
The discovery means that Leo XIV, as the pope will be known, is not only breaking ground as the first U.S.-born pontiff. He also comes from a family that reflects the many threads that make up the complicated and rich fabric of the American story.
Where does he stand on major issues?
When Pope Leo XIV gave his first address as pontiff on Thursday evening from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he concluded by referencing a concept that was one of Pope Francis’s signature legacies: “a synodal church.”
Even many Catholics don’t know the meaning of the word, which refers to a consultative process in which bishops discuss church teachings and policy. Under Francis, who sought to democratize the church, those meetings were opened to lay people, including women, who in 2023 were permitted to vote for the first time on what issues the church should address.
Francis didn’t want church policies to be decided only by bishops in closed rooms. He wanted to open the doors to all Catholics.
But it is unclear whether Pope Leo will be as open to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics as Francis was. Although he has not said much recently, in a 2012 address to bishops, he lamented that Western news media and popular culture fostered “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the Gospel.” He cited the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”
As an American, he is uniquely positioned to stand in contrast to the energized conservative Catholicism in his home country. He has pushed back forcefully against the militant vision of Christian power that the Trump administration has elevated.
Before he became pope, a social media account under his name shared criticisms of the Trump administration’s positions on immigration.
Like many other leaders of the Catholic Church, he has drawn criticism over his dealings with priests accused of sexual abuse.
Who chose the new pope?
Pope Leo was selected in a conclave that began on May 7, though he was not thought to be among the serious contenders at the outset. But guesses about the next pope often prove to be inaccurate; Pope Francis also was not a front-runner.
Cardinals, known as the “princes of the church,” rank just below the pope in the Roman Catholic Church; together, they are known as the College of Cardinals. There are currently 252 cardinals. Only those under the age of 80 are eligible to vote, and there are 135 of them, the largest number in the church’s history. Pope Francis appointed about 80 percent of them.
When a pope dies or — more unusually — steps down, the college chooses a successor. The cardinals cast repeated votes until there is a two-thirds majority. After every vote, the ballot papers are burned in a stove, along with an additive that produces a color. The smoke is released through a chimney that can be seen from St. Peter’s Square, where crowds typically gather to watch and wait. If a vote ends without a two-thirds majority, the smoke is black. When a decision is reached, the smoke is white.
Robert Chiarito, Richard Fausset, Mitch Smith and Charles Ballaro contributed reporting.
Elisabetta Povoledo is a Times reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years.
Jason Horowitz is the Rome bureau chief for The Times, covering Italy, the Vatican, Greece and other parts of Southern Europe.
Emma Bubola is a Times reporter based in Rome.
Motoko Rich is the incoming New York Times bureau chief in Rome, where she will also cover the Vatican.
Elizabeth Dias is The Times’s national religion correspondent, covering faith, politics and values.
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