Robert Francis Prevost has been elected as the new Pope.
The 69-year-old cardinal was officially chosen as the next leader of the Catholic church on Thursday (08.05.25) when white smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel at just after 5pm, and made history in the process as the first American to be elected into the position.
Senior cardinal Dominique Mamberti announced the news on St Peter’s balcony in Vatican City as he proclaimed: “Habemus papam”, which is a Latin term meaning “We have a pope”.
The Chicago native will be known as Leo XIV and made his first public address from the balcony as he told the crowds that his predecessor Pope Francis – who died in April at the age of 88 – was “courageous and blessed Rome”.
He said: “The pope that blessed Rome gave his blessing to the whole world on that Easter morning.
“Let us follow up that blessing. God loves us and God loves all of you.
“Sin will not prevail, we are all in the hands of God.”
In order to choose the new Pope, 133 pontiffs gathered at the Sistine Chapel in Rome to begin the conclave and was sworn to an oath of secrecy.
After winning a two-thirds majority, the new pope was asked to accept the papacy and to choose a new name.
Pope Francis died after suffering a stroke and heart failure.
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Sergio Alfieri, his chief surgeon, then revealed that he failed to respond to any stimuli from medical staff as he lay in a coma with his eyes open before his death.
He told Italian outlet Corriere Della Sera: “On Monday at about 5:30 Massimiliano Strappetti [the pope’s private nurse] called me [saying]: ‘The Holy Father is very ill, we must return to Gemelli [hospital]’.
“I pre-alerted everyone and 20 later I was there in Santa Marta.
“I entered his room and his eyes were open. I noticed that he had no breathing problems and then I tried to call him but he didn’t answer.
“He didn’t respond to stimuli, not even painful ones. At that moment I understood that there was nothing more to be done. He was in a coma.
“Strappetti knew that the Pope wanted to die at home, when we were at the Gemelli he always said so.
“He passed away shortly after.
“I remained there with Massimiliano, Andrea, the other nurses and the secretaries; then they all arrived and Cardinal Parolin asked us to pray and we recited the rosary with him. I felt privileged and now I can say that I was.
“That morning I gave him a caress as a last farewell.”
His funeral took place on 27 April and was attended by the likes of Prince William and Donald Trump as well as 250,000 other mourners.
