New Pope Leo XIV – what we all know thus far
Jakub Krupa
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69-year-old US cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected as Pope Leo XIV, prompted celebration and delight amongst greater than 100,000 pilgrims and vacationers in St Peter’s Sq..
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The moderate, Chicago-born cardinal was given senior roles by Pope Francis, and has important missionary expertise in Peru having served as bishop of the northern metropolis of Chiclayo.


That’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, however Marina Dunbar will information you thru the night in Rome with the newest updates.
Key occasions
Listed below are some photographs from the newswires displaying how individuals from world wide cheered the election of Robert Francis Prevost, now often called Pope Leo XIV.
Abstract of the day thus far
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A brand new pope is elected. US cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, might be often called Pope Leo XIV. It’s been an extended whereas since we had a pope with this title: final Leo, Leo XIII, was elected in 1878 and served till his dying in 1903.
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In his first feedback after his election, Pope Leo XIV preached a message of “unity” and of “shifting ahead”. He mentioned he needs this message of peace to “enter your hearts, to achieve your households and all individuals, wherever they’re.”
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Many shared their pleasure at having an American pope, and particularly a pope born in Chicago. Metropolis mayor Brandon Johnson tweeted “The whole lot dope, together with the Pope, comes from Chicago” and former US president Barack Obama congratulated the “fellow Chicagoan” on social media.
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US president Donald Trump mentioned he was “stunned” however that it’s a “nice honor” to have an American pope. World leaders from a number of nations together with Italy, Spain, Greece, Ukraine, Peru and the United Kingdom have supplied their congratulations.
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An account on X broadly believed to belong to the brand new pope exhibits him to be considerably crucial of the Trump administration. The account posted two articles that took problem with the stance by JD Vance, additionally a Catholic, on immigration. One article was headlined “JD Vance is flawed: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
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In a 2012 tackle to the world Synod of Bishops, Father Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV appeared to criticize homosexuality, saying “Western mass media is very efficient in fostering inside most people monumental sympathy for beliefs and practices which can be at odds with the Gospel — for instance abortion, gay way of life, euthanasia”.

Tiago Rogero
The election of Pope Leo XIV is being celebrated throughout Latin America – significantly in Peru, the place he lived and labored for greater than 20 years and was granted citizenship in 2015 – as a sort of “second Latin American pope”, following his Argentine predecessor, Francis.
The president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, mentioned that Leo’s election was “not solely the primary time that an American has ascended to the throne of Saint Peter, but additionally the primary event on which a Peruvian, with greater than 20 years of service on our soil, leads the Catholic Church as Supreme Pontiff.”
She added: “The Pope is Peruvian; God loves Peru.”
The brand new pope holds Peruvian citizenship, after having lived and labored within the nation on at the least three separate events because the Nineteen Eighties – with a interval again in Chicago within the early 2000s – and solely left Peru in 2023, when he was appointed to a place on the Vatican.
In his first look from the Vatican balcony, Leo XIV briefly switched from Italian to Spanish to deal with the trustworthy “from my beloved diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru,” the place he served as bishop for over a decade.
In Colombia, the inside minister, Armando Benedetti, posted on social media that the years spent in Peru “imply the brand new pope is as soon as once more a Latin American.”
Some posts on social media jokingly claimed that the brand new pope is “extra Latino than the whole forged of Emilia Pérez,” referencing the French movie that sparked controversy over its portrayal of Mexico.
Prime ministers of Spain and Greece react to the brand new pope

Helena Smith
The prime minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez has supplied his congratulations on social media. He wrote: “Congratulations to the whole Catholic Church for the election of the brand new Pope Leo XIV as @Pontifex_es. Might your preach contribute to strengthening dialogue and the protection of human rights in a world in want of hope and unity.”
The Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has additionally added his voice to leaders welcoming the information of the election of the Chicago-born pontiff. He mentioned: “Congratulations to Pope Leo XIV. Your management comes at a time when the world faces profound challenges but additionally nice alternatives for unity, compassion, and dialogue amongst peoples and faiths.”
Greece, like fellow Christian Orthodox Cyprus, have small however historic Catholic communities that Pope Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, made some extent of visiting as a part of his emphasis on the peripheries throughout his twelve-year tenure.
Share your views on Pope Leo XIV.
Robert Francis Prevost, from Chicago, has change into the primary American pope to steer the Roman Catholic church. We’d like to listen to your ideas concerning the first clergyman from the US to steer the Roman Catholic church.
New pope criticized ‘gay way of life’ as ‘at odds with the Gospel’ in 2012 speech

Robert Mackey
In a 2012 tackle to the world Synod of Bishops, Father Robert Francis Prevost, who grew to become Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, mentioned that “Western mass media is very efficient in fostering inside most people monumental sympathy for beliefs and practices which can be at odds with the Gospel — for instance abortion, gay way of life, euthanasia”.
Within the remarks, which he additionally learn parts of for a video produced by the Catholic Information Service, a information company owned by the US Convention of Catholic Bishops, the cleric added:
The sympathy for anti-Christian existence selections that mass media fosters is so brilliantly and artfully engrained within the viewing public that when individuals hear the Christian message it usually inevitably appears ideological and emotionally merciless against this to the humaneness of the anti-Christian perspective.
Catholic pastors who preach towards the legalization of abortion or the redefinition of marriage are portrayed as being ideologically pushed, extreme and uncaring. …
Notice for instance how various households comprised of same-sex companions and their adopted kids are so benignly and sympathetically portrayed in tv packages and cinema at this time.
The video illustrates his criticism of the “gay way of life” and “same-sex companions and their adopted kids” with clips from two US sitcoms, The New Regular and Fashionable Household.
The cleric additionally known as for a “new evangelization to counter these mass media-produced distortions of non secular and moral actuality”.
Barack Obama congratulates ‘fellow Chicagoan’
Former US president Barack Obama congratulated the “fellow Chicagoan” Pope Leo XIV in a social media submit.
“Michelle and I ship our congratulations to a fellow Chicagoan, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV. It is a historic day for the US, and we are going to pray for him as he begins the sacred work of main the Catholic Church and setting an instance for therefore many, no matter religion.”
Villanova College, the Catholic establishment in Pennsylvania the place Pope Leo XIV is an alumnus, celebrated the pope’s election in a statement.
“As an Augustinian Catholic establishment, we have fun this important day for our College group and the worldwide Church. Villanova, constructed on the teachings of St. Augustine, has at all times been grounded in advancing a deeper understanding of the basic relationship between religion and purpose—between spirituality and knowledge,” mentioned College President the Rev Peter M Donohue.
“With at this time’s election of His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV, I can’t assist however mirror on what his Augustinian papacy will imply to our College group and our world. Identified for his humility, light spirit, prudence and heat, Pope Leo XIV’s management gives a chance to reaffirm our dedication to our academic mission,” he mentioned.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer says election of first US pope a ‘momentous second’
British prime minister Keir Starmer posted a statement on X, calling it “a momentous second.”
“The election of Pope Leo XIV is a deeply profound second of pleasure for Catholics in the UK and globally, and begins a brand new chapter for the management of the Church and on the planet“ the assertion reads.
“Pope Leo is the primary American Pope. It is a momentous second. As Pope Francis’ papacy confirmed, the Holy See has a particular position to play in bringing individuals and nations collectively to deal with the most important problems with our time; particularly on local weather change, assuaging poverty and selling peace and justice the world over” he provides.

Blake Montgomery
An account on X broadly believed to belong to the brand new pope gives a brief tour of his pursuits. He tweeted and retweeted posts in each Spanish and English, reflecting his American heritage and his missionary work in Peru. He was shut together with his predecessor, Pope Francis, and tweeted prayers for the previous pontiff’s well being in latest months.
Leo additionally tweeted in disagreement with vp JD Vance. In February of this 12 months, Leo posted two articles that took problem with the stance by Vance, additionally a Catholic, on immigration. One article was headlined “JD Vance is flawed: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
In 2020 and 2021, he used his account to encourage followers to observe social distancing measures and get the covid-19 vaccine. Additionally in 2020, within the wake of George Floyd’s dying, Leo tweeted, “We have to hear extra from leaders within the Church, to reject racism and search justice.”
JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, the US state the place Pope Leo XIV was born, welcomed the brand new pope in a social media submit.
“A historic second as we witness the primary American main the Catholic Church,” he wrote. “Hailing from Chicago, Pope Leo XIV ushers in a brand new chapter that I be a part of these in our state welcoming in at a time after we want compassion, unity, and peace.”
Trump says ‘shock’ and ‘nice honour’ to have an American pope
President Donald Trump mentioned he was “stunned” and known as it a “nice honor” to have an American pope. He added that he’s “completely happy” with the selection when talking with reporters.