Who is the new pope? American Cardinal Robert Prevost becomes Pope Leo XIV
After just one day of seclusion in the Vatican, cardinals ended the 2025 papal conclave with the election of a new pontiff. The man chosen, Cardinal Robert Prevost, will be known as Pope Leo XIV — the first pope ever from the United States.
Here’s what to know about him.
What was Pope Leo XIV’s record as Cardinal Robert Prevost?
Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost is the first U.S. pope in the church’s history. He is also a citizen of Peru, where he worked for many years.
Prevost was the head of the church’s Dicastery for Bishops, meaning he oversaw the selection of new bishops.
Overall, he’s considered a centrist, but on many social issues he’s seen as progressive, embracing marginalized groups like Francis, who championed migrants and the poor. But Prevost opposes ordaining women as deacons, for instance, so he’s seen as conservative on church doctrine.
Where is Pope Leo XIV from?
Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1955. He studied theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.
When he was 27, he was sent to Rome to study, and he was ordained as a priest in 1982. He then went to work as a missionary Peru.
He returned to the U.S. for a few years and then went back to Peru, where he ran an Augustinian seminary in Trujillo.
In 2014, he was appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru by Pope Francis, according to the Vatican. A year later, he became a bishop.
Pope Francis made him a cardinal in 2023.
Why do popes change their names?
The first act of a new pope after he’s elected is to choose a new name. This is to signify that his becoming pontiff is akin to a second birth, the Vatican said. Also, in the early years of Christianity, many popes changed their names because their birth names were of pagan origin.
The precedent to select a new name was set by the first pope, St. Peter, whose birth name was Simon.
But not all popes have selected new names. Out of the 267 popes throughout history, only 129 have chosen new names, according to the Vatican.
How do popes choose their names?
Popes sometimes choose the name of a recent predecessor out of respect or to indicate a desire to continue in their footsteps, the Vatican said. Others pick a name that isn’t linked to any recent predecessors in order to show their desire to innovate.
The choice often reflects attributes they hope to embody in their papacy.
The name a new pope chooses will “indicate a certain spirit and direction and vision of the new pope,” said Dennis Doyle, a theologian and professor emeritus of religious studies at the University of Dayton.
Pope Francis, for example, was the first pope in history to take that name, a nod to St. Francis of Assisi. In Catholic tradition, St. Francis of Assisi had a mystical vision of Jesus, who told him to rebuild his church. He also renounced his wealth and founded the Franciscan order of friars in 1290.