Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square shortly after his election on Thursday, May 8.Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected as the 267th pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV.
White smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel at 6:09 p.m. Rome time on Thursday, signaling that the College of Cardinals had chosen a successor to Pope Francis, who died on April 21.
Thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers as the bells of the basilica began to toll, confirming the election of a new pontiff. The crowds gathered as word spread throughout Rome that a new pope had been chosen.
The new pontiff appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at approximately 7:25 p.m. local time, where Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, the protodeacon of the College of Cardinals and Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, announced in Latin: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus Papam!” (“I announce to you a great joy: We have a pope!”)
Before appearing on the balcony, the newly elected Pope Leo XIV spent time in the “Room of Tears,” a small chamber adjacent to the Sistine Chapel. This traditionally named room is where new pontiffs first don the papal vestments and have a moment of private prayer and reflection as they absorb the magnitude of their election to the Chair of St. Peter.
Following the announcement, Pope Leo XIV addressed the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square and those watching around the world, offering his first blessing “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) as the new Roman pontiff.
“Peace be with you,” he said to the throngs of people gathered in the Square and to the millions watching around the world.
“My dear brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the Risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave his life for God’s flock,” Pope Leo XIV said. The peace of the Risen Lord is “a peace that is unarmed and disarming,” he said.
Speaking to the papacy of Pope Francis, he reiterated that the Church must be open to everyone and that God “loves all of us unconditionally.”
“Without fear, united, hand in hand with God and with each other, let us go forward,” the pope said.
A Chicago native, Cardinal Prevost was the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops under Pope Francis. He is the first North American to be elected pope.
This stained-glass window in the Chapel at the Bishop’s Residence in Harrisburg depicts Jesus handing Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven.On the solemn and celebratory occasion, Bishop Timothy Senior offered his congratulations to the Holy Father.
“On behalf of the clergy, religious, and lay faithful of the Diocese of Harrisburg, I join with our Universal Church in celebrating the election of Pope Leo XIV,” he said. “We give thanks to God the Holy Spirit for guiding the Cardinal Electors in the Conclave.”
“I am confident that Pope Leo XIV will lead the Church in a way which continues the work started by the late Pope Francis in making our Church one that is welcome to all, committed to peace and justice, and one that forms all the faithful as missionary disciples of Jesus Christ,” he said.
“To Pope Leo XIV, I pledge in my own name, and on behalf of the faithful of the Diocese of Harrisburg, our respect, obedience, and prayerful support as he begins his new ministry,” the bishop said.
Bishop Senior will celebrate a Mass for Pope Leo XIV on Friday, May 9 at 12 p.m. and Sunday, May 11, at 9:30 a.m., both at Saint Patrick Cathedral in Harrisburg.
Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago on September 14, 1955, and was an altar server at St. Mary of the Assumption church on the city’s South Side. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and made his solemn vows in the Augustinian order in 1981. He holds a degree in theology from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
The 69-year-old Pope Leo XIV holds both U.S. and Peruvian citizenship and was serving as Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, when Pope Francis called him to the Vatican in January 2023.
(Photos by EWTN and Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness.)
(The Catholic Witness contributed to this story.)
By AC Wimmer, Catholic News Agency
