The Catholic Church has a new leader, Pope Leo XIV. Cardinal Robert Prevost, born in Chicago, IL, chose the name.

The announcement was made by Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti from the Loggia of Blessings of St. Peter’s Basilica, when he proclaimed the name of the new Bishop of Rome.

Donning the traditional white cossack, Pope Leo emerged to massive applause from a packed square below him.

It’s been less than two weeks since Pope Francis passed away, and a conclave of assembled cardinals has elected a new Pope.

After the Vatican national anthem was played for throngs of loyal Catholics assembled in St. Peter’s Square, the newly elected Pope emerged on the Vatican balcony. White smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel just thirty minutes earlier, Thursday afternoon in Italy, shortly after the new Pope emerged.

So, who is Pope Leo XIV, nee Robert Prevost? A Chicago Sun Times bio reveals his upbringing:

“It was pretty apparent back then that was going to be his route,” John Doughney, a fellow St. Mary’s grade school graduate from 1969, says of Prevost’s path to the priesthood. “Some of us had considered it. It was kind of a fantasy for most young men. For him, I think it was true calling. And, even as a young teenager, he knew what he wanted to do and where he wanted to go.”

Prevost’s rise to become an influential figure at the Vatican began in Dolton as it grew, taking in thousands of people moving from apartments in Chicago to new homes in the south suburb during the post-World War II boom.

Catholics moving there typically landed at the St. Mary of the Assumption on the far southern edge of Chicago, straddling the line with Dolton. That’s where the Prevost family — Louis, an educator, Mildred, a librarian, and their sons Louis, John and Robert — were known at bustling St. Mary’s as dedicated and devout musicians, altar boys, lectors and volunteers.

Now, Prevost’s name has been floated among those who might be chosen as the next pope, though American cardinals are considered long shots because of the global power of the United States and its sharply divided politics. There never has been a pope from the United States.

Watch above via CNN.

 

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