We have a new Pope
Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected Pope and has taken the name Leo XIV
"Peace be with all of you" - the first words of Pope Leo XIV as the Bishop of Rome.
The College of Cardinals have elected 69-year-old Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost OSA as the 267th Bishop of Rome. He has taken the name Pope Leo XIV.
In The Vatican a little after 6pm on Thursday, 8 May 2025, white smoke appeared from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, telling the world that a new Pope had been elected.
Pope Leo XIV previously served as the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America since 2023. He is the first Pope from North America and the third Augustinian Pope. He is the first Pope born after World War II.
Robert Provost was born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago, Illinois. He completed his secondary studies at a minor seminary run by the Order of Saint Augustine. Upon graduation in 1973, he chose to pursue a science degree. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at the Augustinian founded Villanova University in 1977. Later that year, he joined the Order of Saint Augustine founded in the 13th century by St Augustine. The order operates in 50 countries and has a special focus on a life of community and equality among its members.
He took his first vows as an Augustinian in September 1978 and solemn vows in August 1981. He was ordained a priest for the Order of Saint Augustine by Archbishop Jean Jadot in Rome on 19 June 1982.
He earned a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1984 and a Doctor of Canon Law in 1987 from the Pontifical College of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
He spent many years as a missionary in Peru and he is also a Peruvian citizen. He was elected head of the Augustinians for two consecutive terms. He was appointed Bishop of Chiclayo in 2015 and elevated to the cardinalate in 2023. In January 2023, Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Dicastry for Bishops. The Dicastry oversees the selection of new bishops, schedules ad limina visits and oversees the formation of new dioceses. He was elected to the Cardinalate later that year.
Cardinal Prevost presided over one of the significant reforms by Pope Francis when he added three women to the voting group that decides which nominations for bishop are forwarded to the Pope. He knew Pope Francis when he was in Peru and when they both lived in Rome in the 2000s.
He has previously visited Australia in the early 2000s when he was the Prior General of the Augustinians (2001–2013). He has made a number of visits to the Broken Bay parish of North Harbour which is under the pastoral care of the Augustinians.
The Papal Conclave began on Wednesday, 7 May and the Cardinal electors spent two days voting. Cardinal Prevost was elected on the fourth ballot. His election comes just over two weeks since the sudden death of Pope Francis.
"For you, I am a bishop, with you, after all, I am a Christian."
Pope Leo
Inaugural Mass
Pope Leo's inaugural Mass will be held in St Peter’s Square at 10am on Sunday, 18 May 2025 (6pm in Sydney). During the Mass he will receive the fisherman’s ring and pallium as symbols of his papal office. The Mass will likely draw hundreds of thousands of the faithful to the square. It will be available live at the video link below.
The Pope's diary
Highlights from Pope Leo's initial schedule:
- Monday, 12 May, Meeting with international press in the Paul VI Hall
- Sunday, 18 May, 10am, St Peter's Square: Inaugural Mass for the Beginning of the Pontificate
- Wednesday, 21 May, First General Audience
References
Announcement at The Vatican
Pope Leo XIV’s portrait and signature (PDF 130.4KB)
Biography of Robert Francis Prevost, Pope Leo XIV
Homily from the First Mass of Pope Leo XIV
www.vaticannews.va
Pope Leo XIV at Wikipedia
Pope Leo on the Web
Video from The Vatican (English)
Vale Pope Francis