New Pope Robert Francis Prevost speaks
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected Pope on the second day of Conclave, taking the name of Leo XIV, after becoming the first-ever American to be elected to the position in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.
VATICAN CITY – Newly elected Pope Leo XIV shared social media posts that weighed in on George Floyd in 2020 and JD Vance earlier this year.
The first pope from the United States posted on Wednesday, “With gratitude and humility, I accept the call to serve as your shepherd, The Pope.”
READ MORE: Who is Cardinal Robert Prevost? Leo XIV is first American pope
Cardinal Robert Prevost’s social media
Dig deeper:
A post on social media from February 2025 shows Robert Prevost sharing an opinion piece criticizing a statement made by United States Vice President JD Vance. The National Catholic Reporter article titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” argues against establishing a hierarchy of love, saying Jesus “speaks of love as abundance — a table where there is enough for everyone.”
Following the killing of George Floyd in 2020, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost shared a post from Bishop Burbidge, where he prayed for Floyd and his family while asking for peace and harmony.
Cardinal Robert Prevost’s beliefs
Big picture view:
Pope Francis was widely seen as a progressive figure in the Catholic Church and saw Prevost as his heir, appointing him to run the bishop vetting office, according to the Associated Press.
The church is divided between conservatives and progressives.
Pope Leo XIV embraces progressive views on social issues, similar to those held by the late Pope Francis. At the same time, he opposes the ordination of women as deacons, taking a conservative position on doctrinal matters.
However, as Cardinal Robert Francis, he oversaw a revolutionary reform made by Pope Francis when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which nominations to forward to the pope.
Compared to Pope Francis, who pushed the Catholic Church to include LGBTQ+ people, Pope Leo XIV is seen as less progressive than his predecessor. The New York Times reported that he opposed teaching gender ideology in schools while he was bishop in Peru, saying that “The promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist.”
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New Pope Leo XIV: Bells toll in celebration
Bells tolled in Vatican City for Cardinal Robert Prevost, who was elected the new pope and will take the name Pope Leo XIV. He is the first person from the United States to be named pope. He’s from Chicago.
Cardinal Robert Prevost background
The backstory:
Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, was born on Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Villanova University in 1977 before taking his solemn vows and studying theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago in 1982.
By 1985 he joined the Augustinian mission in Peru, where he served as chancellor of the Territorial Prélature of Chulucanas for one year.
Between 1987 and 1988, he returned to the U.S., where he served as pastor for vocations and director of missions for the Augustinian Province of Chicago, before he returned to Peru for another 10 years to head the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo and teach Cannon Law.
Eventually, he made his way back to his hometown, where, in 1999, he was elected provincial prior of the “Mother of Good Counsel” in Chicago.
Prevost, 69, was twice elected prior general, or top leader, of the Augustinians, the 13th century religious order founded by St. Augustine. Francis clearly had an eye on him for years, moving him from the Augustinian leadership back to Peru in 2014 to serve as the administrator and later archbishop of Chiclayo.
Pope Francis brought Robert Prevost to the Vatican in 2023 as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church. On Thursday, he ascended to become Pope Leo XIV — the first American pontiff.
The Source: This story used information shared by the Associated Press and FOX affiliate reporting.
