Habemus Papam, the fourth Smoke is white: The new Pope, the American cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, has been elected. His name will be Leo XIV.

A new Pope who spiritually guides 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide has been elected. Here is everything we know about the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church and the bishop of Rome.

Robert Francis Prevost is the new Pope and has chosen Leo XIV. Born in Chicago on September 14, 1955. ‘Evil will not prevail; we are all in the hands of God. Therefore, without fear, united, let us move forward” were some of his first words as Pontiff. Leo XIV thanked Pope Francis in his speech, the cardinals for choosing him “to walk together with you always seeking peace, justice”. “A special greeting to the Church of Rome” said the new Pope amid applause from the square. Prevost continued his greeting in Spanish, greeting his diocese in Chiclayo, Peru.

Prevost is an Augustinian religious and an American missionary who was prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops from 2023 to 2025. He has French, Italian, and Spanish origins: he was Cardinal Bishop of Albano. After studying at the minor seminary of the Augustinian Fathers, he graduated in mathematics and philosophy from Villanova University in Philadelphia. In 1982, he became a priest and participated in various worldwide missions. In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Sufar, and he was appointed cardinal on September 30, 2023.

It is a compromise appointment: Prevost is considered progressive on some issues, such as welcoming migrants, climate change and attention to people with low incomes, while more conservative, for example, on civil rights. He was a missionary in Peru for a long time, a country where he also obtained citizenship; this attention to non-Western countries aligns him with Pope Francis. He has instead more conservative positions on the LGBT+ community, of which he has spoken in less welcoming terms than Pope Francis. He is generally against the involvement of women in clerical roles.

White Smoke: On May 8 at 6:07 p.m., the long-awaited Smoke came out of the chimney announcing that the Conclave had elected the Pope. Robert Francis Prevost is the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church and bishop of Rome, with the name of Pope Leo XIV, succeeding Pope Francis, who died on April 21, 2025. A choice made after the two ballots without a two-thirds majority in the morning, Thursday afternoon, brought the news of the election of Francis’ successor