Everything we know about Pope Leo XIV, the first-ever American pope

By Josef Al Shemary

Cardinal Robert Prevost has become the first ever American pope – here is what we know about the new pontiff, and what direction he might take the Catholic church.

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It makes him the first American head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State.

Before this, he served as the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Political Commission, a role Pope Francis gave him in 2023.

The powerful position meant that he was tasked with overseeing the election of new bishops throughout the world.

That raised his profile within the church, and he has since been seen as a papabile, a frontrunner for the papacy.

Cardinal Prevost is seen as a reformer, and shares some of the progressive views his predecessor, Pope Francis, has become known for.

However, he is considered an overall centrist, despite his longtime dedication to marginalised groups.

Read more: US cardinal Robert Prevost elected Pope Leo XIV

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For example, he is opposed to women being allowed to become ordained deacons, just like Pope Francis before him.

The American and Peruvian dual national was born in Chicago in 1955, and is relatively young at 69 years old.

This might have helped some of the 133 cardinals who elected him, as his American nationality has been thought to be a minor obstacle given the vast geopolitical power the US already yields.

He was ordained a priest for the Order of the Augustinians in 1982, and joined an Augustinian mission in Peru in 1985. He continued to serve in Peru on different missions until his election.

He has taken the papal name pope Leo XIV, which gives an insight into how he might run the Vatican and the Church.

Leo is the fifth-most popular name chosen by Popes, and the last Leo - Leo XIII, who was Pope from 1878 until 1903 - was a founding figure of the social justice tradition within the catholic church.

Pope Leo told Vatican News in October 2024 that a "bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom, but rather called authentically to be humble, to be close to the people he serves, to walk with them and to suffer with them."

Speaking from the balcony at St. Peter’s Basilica after hi election, he said: "Courageous and blessed Rome".

"The pope that blessed Rome gave his blessing to the whole world on that Easter morning," he said, referring to the late Pope Francis.

"Let us follow up that blessing. God loves us and God loves all of you. Sin will not prevail, we are all in the hands of God.

"Together we must try to find out how to be a church that builds bridges, establishes dialogue and is open to receive everybody."