May 8, 2025
On the second day of the Vatican Conclave, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, born in Chicago, was elected Pope. The Spiritual Leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics Worldwide will be known as Pope Leo XIV. Prevost’s name was not even on the short list of favorites designated by betting markets. An Asian, African or European Pope was considered a more likely outcome than one from North America, let alone the Windy City.
Pope Leo was born in the USA and is a graduate of Villanova Univerity and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Beginning in the 1980s, he served in various roles in Peru, eventually becoming an Archbishop there. According to NBC News, he became a citizen of that country in 2015.
A longshot candidate, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, was elected Pope today in Rome.
Photo: Vatican News
