On Thursday, Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV and becoming the first American pontiff — defying widespread assumptions that a US candidate was a long shot.
Who is he? Raised in Chicago, Pope Leo served for two decades in Peru, where he worked as a missionary, parish priest, teacher, and bishop.
What does he mean for the future of the Catholic Church? The 69-year-old pope faces pivotal decisions about the church’s future — chiefly whether to continue the inclusive and reform-minded agenda of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who died last month, or to chart a new course. He echoes Francis’ sentiments on immigration and devotion to the poor, but he is expected to be more conservative — especially when it comes to LGBTQ issues.
While Pope Leo may be a middle-of-the-road choice for the Catholic Church, his views on immigration put him on a crash course with the Trump administration. His X history reveals three recent posts disagreeing with how Trump — and JD Vance, in particular — have treated migrants.
