…to be known as Pope Leo XIV
The cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church elected Robert Francis Prevost as their 267th pontiff on Thursday, ending a two-day conclave in Rome with the election of the first pope from the United States. He took the name Pope Leo XIV.
Leo XVII, Cardinal Robert Prevost is an Augustinian who lived in Peru as a bishop.
Read also: New Pope emerges as white smoke billows from Sistine Chapel chimney
A puff of white smoke from a chimney above the Sistine Chapel signaled that the cardinals sequestered inside for two days had elected a new leader the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics. The new pope will confront difficult decisions about the church’s direction, chiefly whether to continue the agenda of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who championed greater inclusion and openness to change until his death last month, or forge a different path.
The cardinals reached their decision after being in conclave for a little more than 24 hours, and after several rounds of voting. The group of 133 cardinals, the most ever to gather in a conclave, included many who were appointed by Francis and some who did not know one another. That had made reaching a quick consensus a serious challenge, given the broad group of contenders and the splits among them about the future of the church.
