The Next Pope, Robert Francis Prevost, was Chosen Under the Name Leo XIV
Habemus papam. White smoke erupted from the chimney atop the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on Thursday night, just after 6 PM Central European Summer Time, signalling the election of a new pope. When they saw the smoke rising, the people waiting in front of St. Peter’s Basilica cheered and waved to the cameras and onlookers.
Then, on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, “proto-diacon” cardinal Dominique Mamberti announced the next pope’s name and the name he would use to start his pontificate: American cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who has decided to go by Leo XIV.
The 69-year-old, born in Chicago, is the world’s first American pope. In 2023, the late Francis appointed him a cardinal. The announcement of the new pope came a little over an hour after the white smoke.
Black smoke rising from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel signified the election of Leo XIV in the evening of the second day of the conclave, following two rounds of voting that were indecisive in the morning. The new pope and the heir to the late Pope Francis had to receive 89 votes, or a two-thirds majority, to be elected by the 133 cardinals who may cast ballots.
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