Cardinal Robert Prevost has become the first US leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church – taking the name Pope Leo XIV and telling the world: “Peace be with you all.”
The new pontiff had to overcome the taboo against a US pope, given the geopolitical power already wielded by the United States in the secular sphere, but was able to do so after the fourth vote of the secretive conclave that chooses the pontiff. White smoke billowed from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel, signifying the 133 cardinal electors had made their decision after two days of ballots.
