The American Robert Francis Prevost became the first American pope in history on Thursday at 69 under the name of Léon XIV. This Augustine pastor, keen on Christian history and mathematics, celebrated a private mass on Friday, May 9 at 11 am with the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, during which he pronounced his first homily as a pope. He notably regretted the decline in faith in favor of “Technology, money, success, power, pleasure”. Follow our direct.
A loaded program. In the coming days, Léon XIV will honor a series of meetings, including the Prayer of Regina Coeli on Sunday at 12 noon and will meet journalists on Monday morning at the Vatican. His first actions and gestures will be observed closely: will he decide to live at the Sainte-Marthe residence, like François, or will he return to pontifical apartments? What will be his first decisions?
A message of peace. During his first appearance Thursday evening in front of a jackpot in Place Saint-Pierre, Léon XIV began his speech with “May peace be with you all!”in an Italian tinged with American accent. Faithful and tourists praised with a thunderous applause its appearance on the balcony of the Saint-Pierre basilica while the bells sounded on all volley.
Managers around the world react. From Lebanon to Spain via Italy, the EU or Israel, international reactions have multiplied as soon as its election was announced. Donald Trump congratulated the new pope, speaking of a “Great Honor” for the United States while Emmanuel Macron pleaded for the “New pontificate be carrying peace and hope”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the Vatican would continue to support “Morally and spiritually” Kiev.
Many challenges. The Chicago native will quickly manage burning files: finances, fight against pedocrime, drop in vocations … He will also have to change the various currents of an institution in which very diverse cultural sensitivities coexist, between a secularized Europe and “Peripheries” growing. The Catholic Church has sometimes been shaken up by the Pontificate of François (2013-2025), punctuated by reforms which have been the subject of strong internal criticism.
