The cardinals gathered in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel have elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the 267th pope. He will be known as Pope Leo XIV.

He is the first person from the United States elected to lead the Catholic Church.

White smoke rising from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel earlier today signalled that a new pope had been elected.

The election of the new pope, by 133 cardinals, follows the death of Pope Francis on April 21.

Pope Leo XIV was proclaimed from the Loggia of Blessings by the French Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti.

Learn more about the new pope, who was appointed as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America in January 2023.

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