VATICAN CITY (AP) — Robert Prevost, the Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first pope from the United States in the history of the Catholic Church on Thursday.
Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order, took the name Leo XIV.
In his first words as Pope Francis’ successor, uttered from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, Leo said, “Peace be with you,” and emphasized a message of “a disarmed and disarming peace” dialogue and missionary evangelization. He wore the traditional red cape and trappings of the papacy — a cape that Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013 — suggesting a return to some degree of tradition after Francis’ unorthodox pontificate.