INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
cardinals who elected him to succeed Pope Francis and follow in his social justice-minded footsteps.Wearing white vestments, Leo processed
same frescoed chapel that Leo, the Chicago-born missionary Robert Prevost, was elected Thursday afternoon as the 267th pope and the first
from the United States.Leo, the Chicago-born Augustinian missionary Robert Prevost, surprised the world Thursday when he emerged on the
justice-minded priorities, the new pope could also have wanted to signal a strong line of continuity: Brother Leo was the 13th century friar
who was a great companion to St
American pope, clearly had his eye on Prevost and in many ways saw him as his heir apparent
He sent Prevost, who had spent years as a missionary in Peru, to take over a complicated diocese there in 2014
around the world and is one of the most important jobs in church governance.Earlier this year, Francis elevated Prevost into the senior
ranks of cardinals, giving him prominence going into the conclave that few other cardinals had.There had long been a taboo on a U.S
bishop.As if to drive that home, Leo spoke in Italian and Spanish from the loggia, but not English.Since arriving in Rome, Prevost had kept
a low public profile but was well-known to the men who count, and respected by those who worked with him
Significantly, he presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms Francis made, when he added three women to the voting bloc that
decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope.In a 2023 interview with Vatican News, the then-cardinal said the women had enriched
Alexander Lam, an Augustinian friar from Peru who knows the new pope.The crowd in St
on the second day of the conclave
Waving flags from around the world, tens of thousands of people were surprised an hour later when the senior cardinal deacon announced the
But she also said his election could send a message to the U.S
church, which has been badly divided between conservatives and progressives, with much of the right-wing opposition to Francis coming from
Paul and Minneapolis, told reporters he never thought he would see an American pope, given the questions of how he would navigate dealing
pope that he missed several phone calls from Leo during an interview Thursday with The Associated Press
see colleagues, according to selfies posted to social media
Vatican Media also showed him in the moments after his election praying at a kneeler in the Pauline Chapel before emerging on the loggia.Leo
was expected to celebrate Mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on Friday, deliver his first Sunday noon blessing from the loggia of St
possible first foreign trip at the end of May: Francis had been invited to travel to Turkey to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the
First Council of Nicaea, a landmark event in Christian history and an important moment in Catholic-Orthodox relations.The new pope was
formerly the prior general, or leader, of the Order of St
Vatican News said Leo is the first Augustinian pope.In Peru, he is known as the saintly missionary who waded through mud after torrential
rains flooded the region, bringing help to needy people, and as the bishop who spearheaded the lifesaving purchase of oxygen production
