Pope Leo XIV addressed the crowd in St. Peter’s Square, shortly after the Conclave of Cardinals elected him after four rounds of voting in the Sistine Chapel. The conclave, which began on May 7 with 133 electors, required that a candidate win at least two-thirds of the votes in a secret ballot.
Prevost was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1955. He was ordained in 1982. Pope Francis elevated him to be the Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2015, and then a full Cardinal in 2023.
Prevost is regarded to have been ideologically close to Pope Francis on key matters: environmentalism and Catholic outreach to the poor and migrants. He supported Pope Francis’ change in pastoral practice to allow divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion.