Important facts to know about new Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV
Important facts to know about new Pope Leo XIV
• … new Pope is 69 years.
The process of selection of a successor to Pope Francis ended on Thursday as chimney atop the Sistine Chapel released a plume of white smoke.
The white smoke signaled that the 133 cardinals working inside had reached a two-thirds majority to elect a new pope for the Catholic Church.
It was revealed few minutes later that the Cardinals gathered in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel have elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the 267th Pope, who took the name Pope Leo XIV.
A senior cardinal deacon, stood on the balcony on the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica, overlooking St. Peter’s Square and declared in Latin: “Nuntio vobis gaudium magnum: habemus papam” – “I announce to you a great joy: We have a pope”.
Here are important facts about new Pope Pope Leo XIV
1. Cardinal Robert Prevost who has now taken the name Pope Leo XIV is the first American to emerge the Pontiff of the Catholic Church.
2. The new leader of the Catholic Church was chosen amid the third round of conclave voting.
3. The new Pope is 69 years old
4. He has spent much of his career as a missionary in Peru.
5. He was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023.
6. He has given few media interviews and rarely speaks in public.
7. He is originally from Chicago in the United State.
8. He reportedly attracted interest from his peers because of his quiet style.
9. He also supported late Francis’ 12-year papacy, especially his commitment to social justice issues.
10. Prevost served as a bishop in Chiclayo, in northwestern Peru, from 2015 to 2023.
11. The late Pope Francis brought him to Rome in 2023 to head the Vatican office in charge of choosing which priests should serve as Catholic bishops across the globe.
12. Thus, he has had a hand in selecting many of the world’s bishops.
13. He said during a 2023 Vatican press conference: “Our work is to enlarge the tent and to let everyone know they are welcome inside the Church.”
