Here’s What We Know About First American Pope

The Papal conclave has elected Cardinal Robert Prevost as the new leader of the Catholic Church. Here’s what we know about him so far.

After just two votes, the College of Cardinals elected Prevost, who has taken the name Pope Leo XIV and is the first ever pope elected from the United States. Pope Leo XIV succeeds Pope Francis, who passed away April 21.

Originally from Chicago, the 69-year-old pontiff was ordained a priest in 1982 and spent much of his time in Peru as a missionary before assuming the office of Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023, according to Peruvian newspaper la Repubblica. Pope Francis then appointed Prevost to prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. In 2025, he was promoted to the episcopal order of the College of Cardinals.

The new pope holds dual citizenship in Peru. He reportedly speaks five languages: English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese.

Prior to his priesthood, Prevost attended Villanova University to study mathematics. He later received a Master of Divinity from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Pope Leo XIV is the first Augustinian friar elected to the papacy.

In 1984 Prevost earned a licentiate and later a doctorate degree in canon law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.