Robert Prevost, the first US cleric to lead the Roman Catholic church, has said “evil will not prevail” as he addressed a crowd of 100,000 pilgrims and tourists in his first speech as pope Leo XIV from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica.
The stunning election on Thursday of Prevost, who is 69 years old, as the church’s 267th pontiff, ended the Vatican’s longstanding opposition to the idea of a pontiff from the US.
Observers said the Chicago-born cleric’s papal name historically symbolised strength during crisis, and could be taken as a sign that he would probably follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis, who died in April aged 88.
Donald Trump, who on Saturday angered Catholics by posting an AI-generated picture of himself as pope on social media, was among the first world leaders to congratulate Prevost, even though the pair looked set to clash in a similar way that the US president did with Francis.
“It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
Prevost, who in his first speech called for “peace” and “to build bridges”, has previously criticised the Trump’s administration treatment of refugees and migrants, saying in a recent post that the US government did not “see the suffering” in its policies.
His first words to the raucous crowd celebrating in St Peter’s Square were “peace be with you all”. “I would like peace to reach your families, all peoples, all the earth,” he said, speaking in Italian, then switching to Spanish – and saying not a word in English.
“Peace be with you. A disarmed, disarming, humble peace. God loves us all, unconditionally.”
Referring to the final blessing that Francis gave from the same balcony on Easter Sunday, the day before his death, Leo added: “Evil will not prevail: we are all in God’s hands … The world needs his light … Help us build bridges, with dialogue, to always be at peace.”
In response to news of his election, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said he hoped the Vatican would maintain “moral and spiritual support” under the new pope’s leadership.
“At this decisive moment for our country, we hope for the continued moral and spiritual support of the Vatican in Ukraine’s efforts to restore justice and achieve a lasting peace,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
Prevost was also lauded in rather more jocular fashion by the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, who wrote on X: “Everything dope, including the Pope, comes from Chicago! Congratulations to the first American Pope Leo XIV! We hope to welcome you back home soon.”
Prevost was elected as pontiff by at least two-thirds of the 133 cardinal voters who had been locked in the Sistine Chapel on the second day of the papal conclave, after the fourth ballot. The process was completed quickly, especially given the large number of cardinals taking part in the conclave.
Prevost was made a cardinal by Francis in 2023 and presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms the Argentinian pope made, when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope.
-He was former leader of the Augustinian order and was also appointed by Francis to the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, which oversees the selection of new bishops from around the world.
It is believed those senior roles, combined with the American’s missionary experience in Peru, where he served as bishop of the northern city of Chiclayo and became a Peruvian citizen, may have redeemed him in the eyes of those who would not usually countenance the idea of a US pope.
In his speech to the faithful on Thursday, he mostly spoke in Italian, but switched to Spanish to address the people of his former diocese of Chiclayo. His election prompted elation in Peru, where the bells of the cathedral in capital, Lima, rang out, and president Dina Boluarte declared: “The Pope is Peruvian; God loves Peru!”
Politically, he has made no secret of his distaste for the US government’s policies. In February he also shared on X an op-ed published in the National Catholic Reporter titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” after comments the US vice-president made in an interview on Fox News.
On Thursday, Vance wrote on X: “Congratulations to Leo XIV, the first American Pope, on his election! I’m sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!”
Christine Allen, the director of the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (Cafod) charity, said Leo would be “a voice of wisdom in a fractured and divided world as he continues the important work of leading the church in the world and providing spiritual and moral guidance to the global community”.
She added: “Having spent years in Peru, Pope Leo XIV brings with him the vital perspective of the global south, elevating voices from the margins to centre stage.
“Now more than ever, the world needs a strong and steadfast moral voice that can draw attention to the most important issues in our world: the crippling debt crisis – a key focus of this jubilee year – which prevents low-income countries from spending on health and education for their people; the climate crisis and the conflicts blighting our world.”
Eric LeCompte, the executive director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network, who advises Vatican and Catholic church leadership said he expected Leo to “follow the path that Francis set to build a more inclusive and transparent Church”.
“The selection of the name of Leo XIV is a special acknowledgment of the need to support the poor and workers,” LeCompte added.
The new pontiff will have many urgent issues to address. A priority will be to strengthen the church’s unity amid differing views and expectations within the institution and growing polarisation in the wider world.
The pontiff plays an important role on the international stage, aiming to ensure that religion does not become a faultline.
He takes on the role amid ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan plus the politically divisive issues of migration, the climate crisis, religious freedom and human rights.
The legacy of sexual abuse cast a long shadow over Francis’s papacy. He was slow to grasp the scale and systemic nature of the problem, and Pope Leo XIV’s approach will inevitably also come under intense scrutiny.
