Averting a financial crisis “will rank among most pressing issues for the new pontiff,” says Charles Gillespie, PhD, professor at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut.

Political figures around the world have congratulated Robert Francis Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, after his election on Thursday, May 8, as Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. Hailing from Chicago and a dual U.

The 73-year-old Florida man appears to be a staunch Trump supporter who uses his Facebook account to go on the attack.

Pope Leo XIV's childhood home in Dolton, Illinois, was listed for sale on May 5 before being taken off the market just days later. Find out more.

The newly anointed Pope Leo XIV came to the balcony clad in a white cassock topped by a red cape trimmed in ermine and draped in a gold embroidered sash. He clasped his hands in prayer and smiled as the crowds chanted his name, and “ Viva La Papa! ”

Assumption Cemetery in Glenwood and Holy Sepulchre in Alsip, where Robert Prevost’s close relatives reside, remained peaceful Friday.

The temporary chimney atop the Sistine Chapel released a plume of white smoke on Thursday evening local time, signaling that the 133 cardinals working inside had reached a two-thirds majority to elect a new pope for the Catholic Church.

Pope Leo XIV, the first American leader of the Catholic Church, previously known as Robert Francis Prevost, gave his first Sunday blessing as pope and called for peace in the Ukraine-Russia conflict and a ceasefire in Gaza.