1:04 US cardinal Robert Francis Prevost chosen as new pope – videoThe papacyRobert Prevost becomes Pope Leo XIV as cardinals elect first US pontiffAnnouncement prompts raucous celebration and delight among 50,000 pilgrims and tourists in St Peter’s Square
Conclave live: cardinals elect new pope
Angela Giuffrida and Harriet Sherwood in Vatican CityThu 8 May 2025 18.43 BSTFirst published on Thu 8 May 2025 17.10 BSTShareRobert Prevost has become the first US clergyman to lead the Roman Catholic church, ending the Vatican’s longstanding opposition to the idea of a pontiff from the United States.The 69-year-old from Chicago has taken the papal name Pope Leo XIV, a senior cardinal announced from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on Thursday evening.The announcement, which followed white smoke billowing from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel, prompted raucous celebration and delight among the 50,000 pilgrims and tourists in St Peter’s Square.View image in fullscreenPeople react as white smoke rises from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel. Photograph: Kevin Coombs/ReutersThe smoke signalled to the world that a pope had been elected by at least two-thirds of the 133 cardinals inside the chapel where the conclave had been taking place.In a further confirmation that the conclave was over, the bells of St Peter’s Basilica then rang out.Prevost was chosen on the second day of voting, after the fourth ballot.View image in fullscreenSwiss guards march through the excited crowd. Photograph: Markus Schreiber/APThe process was completed quickly, especially given the large number of cardinals taking part in the conclave. The vast majority were picked by Pope Francis, who died aged 88 last month and who cast his net wide around the world to broaden the church.View image in fullscreenPeople wave Vatican flags. Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty ImagesPrevost had been among the frontrunners before the conclave. Others tipped for the papacy included: Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state; Luis Antonio Tagle, a reformer from the Philippines; Péter Erdő, a traditionalist from Hungary; and Robert Sarah, a cardinal from Guinea who criticised Francis’s papacy.View image in fullscreenThere was loud applause in St Peter’s Square. Photograph: Kevin Coombs/ReutersDuring one of the twice-daily pre-conclave meetings, the cardinals agreed that a new pope needed to be capable of “being a bridge and a guide for a disoriented humanity marked by the crisis of the world order”.Various issues related to the church were discussed during the meetings, including evangelisation, the Vatican’s finances, clerical sexual abuse, global conflicts and service to poor people and migrants.A priority for the new pope will be to strengthen the church’s unity amid differing views and expectations within the institution and growing polarisation in the wider world.Some observers believe there is a real risk of schism after 20 years in which there have been popes on either end of the spectrum: the traditional-conservative Benedict XVI, and the liberal-progressive Francis.View image in fullscreenPriests embrace each other as they react to the white smoke. Photograph: Claudia Greco/ReutersThe pontiff plays an important role on the international stage, aiming to ensure that religion does not become a faultline.He will take 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 the new pope’s approach will inevitably also come under intense scrutiny.Explore more on these topicsThe papacyPope FrancisVaticanCatholicismChristianityItalyEuropenewsShareReuse this content
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