Now that the white smoke has cleared, history is being written.

The Roman Catholic Church has elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago as its new leader. He will be known as Pope Leo XIV and will be the first American pope in the Church’s 2,000-year history.

French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti made the dramatic announcement Thursday night from the renowned balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, saying, “Habemus Papam!” (A pope is here!)

The 69-year-old, wearing brand-new white papal robes, entered the balcony to roaring cheers and shouts of “Viva il Papa!” from a crowded St. Peter’s Square.

From Illinois to the Vatican

Pope Leo was raised at St. Mary of the Assumption parish, which is close to Dolton, Illinois, and was born in the south suburbs of Chicago. However, his path to the pope has not been typical.

According to John Doughney, a former St. Mary’s classmate, “for him, it felt like a calling, but some of us dreamed of it as kids.”

After being ordained in 1982 and obtaining a doctorate in canon law in Rome, he served for twenty years in Peru, rising to the position of bishop of Chiclayo and even obtaining Peruvian citizenship.

Speaking Spanish and Italian fluently, Leo embodies what insiders refer to as a bridge pope—someone who can navigate the expanding diversity of the global church while preserving roots in both Latin and American traditions.