By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
VATICAN CITY (Worthy News) – Robert Prevost was elected as the first American pope on Thursday, appearing on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica as Leo XIV.
He was elected on the second day of the conclave, securing the most votes among the 133 cardinal electors. White smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating that a new pope had been elected at the Vatican.
The 69-year-old pontiff immediately takes charge of the Vatican, leading the Catholic Church and exercising authority over its 1.4 billion followers.
Pope Leo XIV delivered his first public address and his first “Urbi et Orbi” (”To the City and the World”) blessing in front of the thousands who had gathered in St Peter’s Square.
“Peace be with all of you,” he said from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica this evening, in his first public words.
He then paid tribute to his predecessor Francis, saying he wanted to deliver his blessing to the people as the late pontiff did in his final appearance in St Peter’s Square.
The new pope is viewed as a centrist, but is progressive on some key social issues, church watchers said.
REACHING OUT
Like Pope Francis, who championed migrants and the poor, Prevost has long embraced marginalized groups, according to sources familiar with his thinking and work.
Made a cardinal by late Pope Francis in 2023, he has given few media interviews and rarely speaks in public.
Originally from Chicago, he has attracted interest from his peers because of his quiet style and support for Francis’ 12-year papacy, especially his commitment to what he called “social justice issues.”
He has significant missionary experience, having served as a bishop in Chiclayo, northwestern Peru, from 2015 to 2023.
That year, Francis brought him to Rome to head the Vatican office, where he was in charge of choosing which priests should serve as Catholic bishops worldwide.
Church watchers say he has influenced the selection of many of the world’s bishops.
His predecessor preferred to celebrate his birthday with the homeless and what he saw as “forgotten” members of society, and did not live in a palace.
TRADITIONS BREAK
Last month’s funeral, attended by hundreds of thousands of people in Rome, underscored Francis’s break with tradition and calls for simplicity, which marked the tenure of the first Jesuit to lead the church in its roughly 2,000-year history.
Francis, 88, requested a simple wooden coffin to contain his mortal remains. Church watchers called that “the final sermon” he preached at his funeral.
Pope Leo XIV, the name Prevost chose, was likely to continue in Francis footsteps reaching out to vulnerable people.
Prevost said during a 2023 Vatican press conference: “Our work is to enlarge the tent and to let everyone know they are welcome inside the Church.”
He became the first U.S. pontiff in a world facing war and other challenges such as divisions within the Catholic Church.
Yet global leaders, including U.S. president Donald J. Trump and key European heads of state and government, congratulated the new head of the Roman Catholic church.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
A new U.S. intelligence assessment reveals that last month’s airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure largely succeeded in destroying the heavily fortified Fordow enrichment facility, while only partially damaging two other sites–Isfahan and Natanz–raising concerns over Iran’s ability to resume uranium enrichment within months.
Israel has launched a forceful military intervention in southern Syria aimed at protecting the embattled Druze minority, after more than 500 people were killed in four days of bloody conflict in the province of As-Suwayda. The fighting, sparked by sectarian tensions between Druze militias, Bedouin tribal fighters, and Syrian regime forces, was intensified by alleged atrocities against Druze civilians–prompting Israel to act.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition plunged into deeper crisis Wednesday as the ultra-Orthodox Shas party announced its ministers were resigning from the government in protest of the failure to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from military service. The move, while not an official departure from the coalition, further weakens Netanyahu’s grip on power, reducing his effective support in the Knesset to just 60 out of 120 members.
U.S. President Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday following a deadly Israeli military strike that hit Gaza’s only Roman Catholic church, killing three civilians and wounding several others.
Concerns are mounting over the fate of six Americans detained in South Korea for attempting to send 1,600 bottles filled with Bibles, rice, $1 bills, and USB drives toward North Korea by sea.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has issued a sharply worded letter to Israel’s Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, accusing his office of systematically denying visas to Christian groups seeking to visit the Holy Land. The letter, first reported by Channel 12, conveys Huckabee’s “profound disappointment” and warns of diplomatic fallout if the issue is not resolved swiftly.
In a major conservative victory for fiscal responsibility, the U.S. Senate passed a $9 billion rescissions package early Thursday morning, aimed at cutting waste, fraud, and partisan excess from federal spending. The bill, endorsed by President Donald Trump and crafted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), claws back billions in taxpayer funds from controversial foreign-aid initiatives and public broadcasting outlets long criticized for their liberal bias.