The bells of cathedrals across Australia rang in harmony with those of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on the momentous evening when white smoke billowed above the Sistine Chapel, announcing to the world: Habemus Papam.
Neither liberals nor conservatives can fully claim him — which may be precisely what we need: a pope who challenges everyone’s comfortable assumptions.
The new Pope, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, 69, taking the name Leo XIV, was celebrated on May 8 with his election as the 267th Pope, the first American-born pope, in the Church’s 2,000-year history.
In a historic moment for the Catholic Church, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the 267th Pope, taking the name Leo XIV, and becoming the first American-born pope in the Church’s 2,000-year history on May 8.