Robert Francis Prevost, who was elected the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday and took the name Pope Leo XIV, is the first pope from the United States.
The decision from the 133 voting cardinals, which arrived in a plume of white smoke at the end of their second day of voting inside the secrecy of the Sistine Chapel, defied longstanding belief that church leaders would never select a pope from a global superpower that already has considerable influence in world affairs.
Taking the name Pope Leo XIV, the immediate successor to Pope Francis has the potential to shake up the global Catholic power structure.
As an American, he is uniquely positioned to stand in contrast to the energized conservative Catholicism in his home country, and has pushed back forcefully against the militant vision of Christian power that the Trump administration has elevated.
Despite his American roots, the Chicago-born polyglot, 69, is viewed as a churchman who transcends borders. He served for two decades in Peru, where he became a bishop and a naturalized citizen, then rose to lead his international religious order. Under Pope Francis, he held one of the most influential Vatican posts, running the office that selects and manages bishops globally.
That made him an attractive choice to the Roman Curia, the powerful bureaucracy that governs the church and which, after frequently experiencing reprimands and upheavals from Pope Francis, wanted someone who knew, and appreciated, the institution.