Cardinal Prevost Elected Pope: Leo XIV Leads Church
The American got it on the second ballot—fastest conclave since 1939. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, an Augustinian from Illinois who'd spent decades in Latin America, became Leo XIV at seventy-seven. He'd nearly become a lawyer. Instead, he chose Peru over Chicago, learned Quechua, ran a seminary in Lima for sixteen years. The College of Cardinals needed someone who understood both the institutional Church and the developing world where two-thirds of Catholics now live. First American pope, sure. But also: first Augustinian in six centuries, which might matter more inside those walls.
May 8, 2025
1 year ago
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