Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Cardinal Robert Prevost, who has chosen the name Pope Leo XIV, has been elected the 267th bishop of Rome and leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. The new pope takes over a church that is still growing around the world, but where its center of gravity has rapidly shifted from Europe to Africa and Asia. Find our live blog with day-by-day updates of the conclave and election here. All coverage of the conclave can be found at this link. To see our stories on the legacy of Pope Francis, click here.
¿Estadounidense, peruano, francés? Tras la elección de Robert Francis Prevost Martínez, varios países reclaman al papa León XIV como 'suyo'. Pero su identidad no está en un pasaporte. "Roberto era un agustino para los agustinos", afirma una religiosa que lo acompañó en Perú y que recordó cómo su vocación de servicio se palpó en 2023, cuando el entonces obispo recorrió las calles de Chiclayo para llevar comida y suministros a las víctimas de las inundaciones.
In his first appointment of a top-level official of the Roman Curia, Pope Leo XIV named Sr. Tiziana Merletti, a canon lawyer, to be secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
After stepping out to the main balcony as Pope Leo XIV, he mentioned no nationality. Instead, he identified himself as "a son of St. Augustine, an Augustinian."
The word holy derives from words that mean "being whole." There is an emerging consciousness that first sees reality from wholeness. I believe and hope that our newly elected pope is this kind of holy/whole person.
Las hermanas agustinas que conocieron a monseñor Robert Prevost Martínez desde sus días de misionero en Perú comparten historias del ahora papa León XIV: su humildad, su pasión por los pobres y los emotivos momentos que ahora atesoran. "Tenía el deseo de poder estar cerca de los más pobres y vivir también esa experiencia como un don y una responsabilidad… he visto como él ha sido muy acogedor con la gente más sencilla. Y eso ha sido un signo", manifestó una de las religiosas.
Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is now known to be of African ancestry, part of a growing picture Americans are forming of the new supreme pontiff.
"La Ruah sigue soplando. Y esta vez lo ha hecho con un papa multicultural, con alma misionera y corazón universal", escribe la Hna. Helga Leija tras la elección de León XIV. En su blog recoge las voces de otras hermanas latinoamericanas que se sienten representadas por Robert Prevost Martínez, quien "antes de ser papa caminó con el pueblo, escuchó sus heridas y se dejó tocar por su fe". "Solo Jesús podía propiciar que en un solo ser humano se reunieran Estados Unidos, Europa y Latinoamérica", dijo una religiosa colombiana.
Augustinians around the world are remembering fellow Augustinian Fr. Robert Prevost, who was elected as pontiff on May 8 by 133 cardinals after four votes.
"He has shared meals with us, celebrated with us, accompanied us, encouraged us, and that is moving for us, because he has done so in his simplicity, with trust, with prayer," one sister said.
"The spirit continues to blow where she wills," writes Sr. Helga Leija. "And this time, she has done so through a multicultural pope with a missionary soul and a universal heart."
"We are deeply grateful for his humble acceptance of his election and his willingness to serve the church and the wider world at this critical moment," wrote the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
The challenges for the Catholic Church in Chicago, where Robert Prevost grew up, are a microcosm of the gargantuan problems facing the worldwide Catholic Church that the new Pope Leo XIV must address.
The new pontiff is former Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, a Chicago-born Augustinian friar who previously headed the influential Vatican Dicastery for Bishops.
Pope Francis invited all Catholics to the table in deliberating the future of the church. Sisters involved in those synods believe there's no turning back — even with a new pope.
Many on the margins felt like Pope Francis was the last world leader defending them. Now, with a conclave ahead, sisters in social ministries say they hope the next pope shares Francis' preference for the poor.
While we do not know who the next pope will be, as a feminist theologian, I am not worried. Yes, the next pope can enact practices that reverse Francis’ reforms — but the Francis Effect extended far beyond his person or office.
