Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the United States was elected as the 267th Pope and will soon enter the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and become the new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Prevost, 69, from Chicago, Illinois, is the first pope in the United States. He will be called Leo XIV.
Prevost received the necessary two-thirds majority to elect the pope, which may have happened on the fourth vote, after two failed ballets Thursday morning and one failed vote on Wednesday.
As white smoke poured out from the Sistine Church, the bell rang, and thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square and shouted, “Pope!”
Cardinal Dominique Mamberti
