Stay updates after Cardinal Prevost named 1st American pontiff by conclave

A brand new pope has been elected. Robert Francis Prevost, the primary American pope, has been chosen by the papal conclave to take over as chief of the 1.4 billion-member Roman Catholic Church.

The brand new pontiff, who has taken the identify Leo XIV, was chosen on day 2 of the conclave. It came to visit two weeks after the loss of life of Pope Francis at age 88.

Prevost, 69, is a Chicago-born cardinal who beforehand served in Peru for 20 years.

Simply after 6 p.m. native time in Vatican Metropolis (midday ET), white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel chimney as bells rang, which symbolized that the conclave had reached the two-thirds majority needed for a brand new pope.

Earlier votes, which resulted in black smoke coming from the chapel, meant {that a} vote was inconclusive and didn’t attain a choice.

The papal conclave started on Might 7 with 133 electors, the biggest variety of voting cardinals in historical past.

A crowd of greater than 10,000 individuals had gathered in St. Peter’s Sq. on Thursday to await the outcomes of the votes.

The newly elected pope appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the place he was launched to the world.