Habemus papam – Robert Prevost elected as Pope Leo XIV

Following a conclave of two days, the cardinals have elected the American Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV.

Robert Francis Prevost was born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States – the son of a French father and an Italian mother. He completed his secondary studies in 1973 at the minor seminary of the Order of St. Augustine. He earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics at Villanova University in 1977. Following this, he decided to become a priest and took his first vows the following year. His solemn vows were taken in 1981, and he was awarded a Master of Divinity from the Catholic Theological Union the following year. In 1982, he became an ordained priest.

He spent many years heading the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo, Peru. In 1999, he returned to the United States to become the provincial of the Augustinian Province of Chicago. In 2001, he was elected as Prior General of the Augustinians.

In 2014, he was appointed by his predecessor, Pope Francis, as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo and titular bishop of Sufar. In 2014, he was named Bishop of Chiclayo. He was appointed cardinal-deacon of Santa Monica degli Agostiniani Church in Rome in 2023 and finally, cardinal-bishop in 2025.

Today, he was elected as Pope Leo XIV – the first Pope from the United States.