Pope Leo XIV. (Photo: Vatican News).

VATICAN, (Eye Radio) – The Conclave has elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the 267th Bishop of Rome, becoming the first American to hold the position in the Catholic Church’s 2,000 year history.

The new pope was announced to the waiting crowds by Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti on Thursday

Cardinal Prevost has taken the name Leo XIV. As a missionary, he spent his career working for the Church in Peru and took over the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops.

In his first words as Pope, 69-year-old Leo said, “Peace be with you,” and emphasized a message of peace, dialogue and missionary evangelization. He wore the traditional red cape of the papacy — a cape that Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013.

The former pope, Francis brought Prevost to the Vatican in 2023 to serve as the powerful head of the office that vets biship nominations from around the world.

Born in Chicago in 1955 to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian descent, Prevost served as an altar boy and was ordained in 1982. Although he moved to Peru three years later, he returned regularly to the US to serve as a pastor and a prior in his home city.

He has Peruvian nationality and is fondly remembered as a figure who worked with marginalised communities and helped build bridges. He spent 10 years as a local parish pastor and as a teacher at a seminary in Trujillo in north-western Peru.