Why Leo XIV? 10 Things to Know About the First American Pope

On May 8, 2025, local time in Vatican City, white smoke rose from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel at 18:08 (23:08 in Thailand), a sign of joy for Christians around the world after 133 cardinals in a secret conclave were able to successfully elect a new head of the Catholic Church on the second day of the conclave. Cheers erupted in St. Pete

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Pope Leo XIV, the Pope who embraces the excluded

Cardinal Robert Prevost was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, into an Italian-American family. He joined the Jesuits in 1978 and was ordained a priest in 1985. Prevost has served in a variety of roles both in the United States and abroad, most notably in Peru, where he served as Jesuit superior general in that region

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