“I just didn’t think there would be an American pope in this geopolitical climate,” one respondent said.
“I just didn’t think there would be an American pope in this geopolitical climate,” one respondent said.
In a historic moment for the Catholic Church – and the United States – Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the 267th pope, taking the name Pope Leo XIV. His election on Thursday was met with surprise and enthusiasm, particularly among American Catholics.
Born in Chicago in 1955, Prevost is the first U.S.-born pontiff in the Church’s two-millennia history. Prevost’s rise to the papacy comes after a long ministerial career. After joining the Augustinian Order in 1978, he spent over two decades in Peru.
