Meet New Pope, Leo XIV
Digest more
Americans are cheering for the new leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, whose name is Robert Francis Prevost.
The first American-born pope's sports loyalties have been widely debated. Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams needed just two words as he weighed in the new pontiff.
2don MSN
Tens of thousands of faithful Catholics gathered in St. Peter's Square to watch Pope Leo XIV deliver the first Sunday blessing of his pontificate exactly at noon.
"I think people will be very impressed with him," Villanova president Peter Donohue said of the new pope, who graduated from the university in 1977.
Vice President JD Vance said this week he didn't want to get political about new pope Leo XIV, calling his election "a great thing."
He said he expects Robert Prevost, the new Pope Leo XIV, to be a “second Pope Francis” and described him as very concerned for the poor and those who don’t have a voice.
People Leo XIV makes history as the first American-born pontiff. Father Robert Hagan, a friend of Pope Leo and an Augustinian Prior Provincial, says he felt “incredible joy” watching him step up to the balcony.