The 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Robert Francis Prevost, or Leo XIV, was elected by the conclave of the college of cardinals on 8 May. Born in Chicago in 1955, he is the first pope of American nationality. After his papacy was announced, his first words to the enormous audience at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Rome were “Peace be with you.”
Pope Leo XIV’s formal inauguration Mass to mark his appointment will take place in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday 18 May, the Vatican said in a statement on Friday.
Prior to his papacy, Robert Francis Prevost spent most of his career as a missionary, notably in Peru where he was a member of the Augustinian leadership and eventually elected archbishop of Chiclayo. He was consecrated as a cardinal only in 2023 by Pope Francis, who brought Prevost to the Vatican to take over the Vatican’s important Holy See office that oversees bishop nominations around the world. He replaced Cardinal Marc Ouellet who was accused of sexual abuse at the time.
For this reason, Prevost was viewed favourably among the college of cardinals, despite being one of the lesser known ‘pababili’ (cardinals viewed as potential candidates for the papacy). Prevost is seen as a firm supporter of his predecessor. He is known to have similar enthusiasm for charitable initiatives on the part of the papacy. Another progressive role he has played was the oversight of the addition of three women to the jury that confers bishop nominations to the pope.
Nevertheless, many commentators see him as less progressive than Pope Francis. Concerning the LGBTQ+ Catholic community, Prevost called for “the need for greater conversations between each ‘episcopal conference’ to discuss the blessings of same-sex couples and apply them in a way that aligned with cultural differences,” only a few months ago.
In line with the view of Pope Francis, and almost all prior papacies, Prevost is rather firm in his stance against the ordainment of women in the church, even suggesting that the clericalisation of women does not necessarily solve problems but could in fact create problems.
However, Prevost’s, now Pope Leo XIV, emphasis on peace in times of war is seen as crucial at this point in time, as well as his experience with indigenous and poor communities in Peru.
Many clergy at the St. Peter’s Basilica and around the world congratulated him on his papacy, as well as world leaders and heads of state.
