Robert Francis Prevost, the primary American pope, will now lead greater than a billion Catholics around the globe — together with 53 million American Catholics.
By Mariel Padilla for The nineteenth
After a little bit greater than 24 hours of anticipation, the telltale white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel on Thursday — signaling that the Roman Catholic Church’s 133 eligible cardinals had come to a two-thirds majority vote on who the following pope ought to be. The bells of St. Peter’s Basilica chimed, the group in St. Peter’s Sq. waved flags from completely different continents and chants may very well be heard: “Viva il Papa!” Lengthy stay the pope.
About an hour later, 69-year-old Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost emerged on the central balcony of the basilica in Vatican Metropolis as the brand new chief of the world’s largest Christian denomination — sporting the white papal cassock for the primary time and choking again tears. Throngs of clergymen, nuns and Vatican staff may very well be seen on the encompassing rooftops, attempting to catch a glimpse of their new religious father.
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His chosen papal identify: Leo XIV. He’ll now lead greater than a billion Catholics around the globe — together with 53 million American Catholics. “Peace be with you all,” he mentioned in Italian and Spanish from the balcony in his first public remarks. It’s custom for the brand new pope to supply a blessing from the balcony to town and the world earlier than a number of extra remarks that always point out how he plans to guide. He talked about constructing bridges and remaining “close to those who suffered” and emphasised peace and unity.
The names popes select for his or her tenure additionally displays the path and imaginative and prescient they need for his or her papacy. Prevost’s chosen identify aligns him with a lineage of Pope Leos recognized for sturdy management in adversity, together with Leo XIII, who served within the late 1800s and emphasised the dignity and rights of the poor and dealing class. He’s the primary American to carry the papacy, in addition to the primary Peruvian citizen, having been naturalized after working within the nation for many years. Born and raised within the Chicago space, he was ordained as a priest after learning in Rome and is fluent in Spanish and Italian.
The Catholic Church was at a crossroads, with many questioning whether or not new management can be extra progressive like Francis or extra conservative, just like the majority of the American Catholic bishops. It seems he’s pastorally aligned with Pope Francis, who named him a cardinal in 2023. Notably, Francis additionally requested him to preside over one essentially the most revolutionary reforms, through which he added three ladies to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations are greenlit and despatched to the pope.
Some advocates had been in opposition to his candidacy for the papacy as a result of he has been accused of mishandling intercourse abuse circumstances in Peru and Chicago. His dioceses have maintained that the accusations had been dealt with in line with Church coverage on the time.
Leo’s papacy additionally comes at a time of pressure between the Vatican and the Trump administration. A couple of months earlier than he died, Pope Francis issued a letter to the church’s American bishops condemning the president’s strategy to immigration and took direct intention at Vice President JD Vance’s makes an attempt to use his Catholic religion to justify the administration’s deportation insurance policies. Pope Leo XIV, then a cardinal, publicly agreed with Pope Francis and posted on social media that “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
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Right here’s what Pope Leo XIV has mentioned through the years on plenty of points:
LGBTQ+ folks
Whereas Pope Francis made substantial strides in pushing the church towards together with LGBTQ+ folks, Pope Leo XIV is seen as much less progressive on queer points. The New York Instances famous in a latest story that as a bishop in Peru, he opposed a plan to incorporate gender educating in class, noting that, “The promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist.”
It’s unclear if his views have modified since. He has not totally endorsed nor opposed a doc that may bless same-sex unions within the church. That mentioned, he had supported Pope Francis’ basic intention to make the church extra inclusive.
Immigration
Leo appears to be aligned with Francis on immigrant and migrant rights, notably due to his time in Peru, although he has not made many public statements on the problem. Francis pushed again on a number of anti-immigrant actions from Trump within the final 12 months of his life, subtly calling out Vice President JD Vance’s beliefs on the problem in a February letter. In the meantime, Leo’s X account has reposted a number of statements that had been crucial of Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele’s deportation plans.
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Abortion and reproductive care
The brand new pope has not made clear his views on reproductive well being issues corresponding to entry to abortion, contraception, in vitro fertilization (IVF) or surrogacy. Traditionally, the Catholic Church has opposed these types of well being care.
Throughout his tenure, Pope Francis usually averted highlighting reproductive well being, although he was notably crucial of surrogacy and voiced issues about IVF. He had additionally characterised the 2024 election as one which required People to decide on between “the lesser of two evils,” citing Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ help of abortion rights and President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration insurance policies.
Local weather change
Leo follows Francis, who was recognized for his progressive beliefs on combating local weather change and residing sustainably. The brand new pope has signaled alignment with Francis’ environmental priorities. Prior to now, Leo pressured that the world ought to transfer “from words to action,” and that people ought to have a reciprocal relationship with the atmosphere. He supported the Vatican’s shift to photo voltaic panels and electrical automobile utilization.
Within the days after Pope Francis died, social media platforms had been flooded with conclave content material as folks started posting movies, memes and pope predictions as if speaking a couple of movie star gala or actuality tv present. The conclave — a traditionally secretive and solemn election attended solely by older males in crimson cloaks — had a wider following this time round, notably among the many younger, non-religious and perpetually on-line.
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