“Habemus papam”! The new pope who succeeds François is now known. He is 69 years old and is from Chicago, in the United States. His name is Robert Francis Prevost, and he has just taken the name of Léon XIV. It is the first time in history that a pope is American.
After an exceptionally rapid conclave, at 6:08 p.m., white smoke appeared meaning that 267th pope had been elected. The bells sounded in Rome. The crowd of faithful fellowly exclaimed “viva il dad”.
It then took a little less than an hour to see the new pope appear in the central balcony. “Habemus papam”, this is how the pontificate of the new Soverrain began. The 1.4 billion Catholics now have a new spiritual guide.
“May peace be with you”: these are the first words of the new pontiff. During his first speech, he took care to greet the work of his predecessor, Pope Francis. “Thanks to Pope Francis,” he said.
After two days of conclave the 133 cardinals gathered the Sistine Chapel agreed to know who was going to succeed François.
However, earlier in the day, shortly before noon, it is black smoke that overplods Rome, meaning the absence of an agreement.
-Finally, it is therefore on Robert Francis Prevost, a man who has the reputation of being a moderate capable of reconciling divergent points of view, a change from the personal exercise of power, even brittle, of his predecessor.
The Vaticanists had made their favorite among the American cardinals upstream of the election, on the basis of his field experience, his global vision and his ability to navigate within the Vatican bureaucracy, some qualifying it as “less American of the Americans”.
His deep knowledge of Canon law also made him reassuring him in the eyes of conservative cardinals aspiring to greater attention to theology.
Pope Léon XIV will celebrate a mass this Friday at 11:00 am with the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, the day after his election as 267th Pope of the Catholic Church, the Vatican announced.
The new pope will also chair Regina Coeili prayer this Sunday at 12 noon from the Balcony of the Saint-Pierre Basilica and will meet journalists on Monday morning, said the director of the Saint-Siège press service, Matteo Bruni.
Follow this news in this commented direct this Thursday, May 8
