May 08, (THEWILL) – American-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected the 267th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He will be known as Pope Leo XIV.
THEWILL reports that 133 cardinals, gathered under the vaulted ceilings of the Sistine Chapel, elected Cardinal Prevost as the new pontiff on Thursday during the third round of voting.
Originally from Chicago, Prevost succeeds Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday at the age of 88 following a stroke.
Born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, Pope Leo XIV previously served as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo, Peru.
He entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.) in 1977 in the province of Our Lady of Good Counsel, St. Louis, and made his solemn vows on August 29, 1981. He studied theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago and later pursued canon law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome.
Ordained a priest on June 19, 1982, he served as a missionary in Chulucanas, Piura, Peru, from 1985 to 1986. In October 2013, he returned to Chicago to serve as teacher of the professed and provincial vicar.
On November 3, 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, elevating him to bishop and assigning him the titular diocese of Sufar. He was consecrated bishop on December 12, 2014, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Prevost formally became Bishop of Chiclayo on November 26, 2015, and later served as the second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference in 2018.
Pope Francis appointed him to the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019, and to the Congregation for Bishops in 2020. He was also made Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Callao on April 15, 2020.
On January 30, 2023, Pope Francis named him Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, roles he held until his election as pope.
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