Robert Provost was eventually elected as the new Pope, taking the name Leo XIV.
According to Ashura News, citing Mehr News Agency, the Vatican finally chose the new leader of the world's Catholics after much struggle.
Accordingly, before Robert Provost's name was announced as the new Pope with the title of Leo XIV from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, the crowd gathered in the square enthusiastically shouted: "Viva il Papa" meaning long live the Pope.
Robert Provost, 69, now sits on the papal throne as the 267th successor of St. Peter and will be known as Pope Leo XIV.
He is the first American to reach this position, although many know him as much as a Latin American cardinal due to his long years as a missionary in Peru and as a bishop.
Provost was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1955 to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian descent. He worked as an altar boy as a child and was ordained a priest in 1982. Three years later, he went to Peru, but over the years he returned regularly to the United States, serving both as a priest and as abbot of a monastery in his native country.
He is also a citizen of Peru, and is remembered in that country as a beloved and kind figure who worked with the marginalized and forged bonds between people. Provost spent ten years of his life serving as a parish priest and also teaching at a seminary in the city of Trujillo in northwestern Peru.
In his first words as pope, Leo XIV spoke with respect and kindness about his predecessor, Francis. “We still hear the faint but courageous voice of Pope Francis blessing us,” he said.
Then he told the enthusiastic crowd: “United and hand in hand with God, we will go forward together.”
He also referred to his background in the Augustinian order. At the age of 30, he was sent to Peru as an Augustinian missionary to work on a religious mission. A year after becoming pope, Pope Francis appointed Provost as bishop of Chiclayo, Peru.
Provost is particularly known for his prominent role as head of the Dicastery for Bishops in Latin America, the body responsible for selecting and overseeing bishops. He was elevated to the rank of archbishop in January 2023 and was made a cardinal by Pope Francis just a few months later.
Given that 80 percent of the cardinals who participated in the papal conclave were appointed by Pope Francis himself, the selection of someone like Provost, even though he is a new cardinal, was not far-fetched.
What are Pope Leo XIV's views?
He is a figure who will be known as a supporter of Pope Francis's reform path in the Catholic Church. Provost is said to have views close to Pope Francis on issues such as supporting immigrants, caring for the poor, and protecting the environment.
As a cardinal, he has not hesitated to express his opinions openly against American politicians, including in his criticism of US Vice President J.D. Vance. He reposted a post on the social network "X" (formerly Twitter) in which he criticized the deportation of a legal US resident to El Salvador during the Trump administration. He also shared a critical article about Vance's interview with Fox News.
One of the posts, a headline from the National Catholic Reporter website, read: J.D. Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.
Although Provost is an American citizen and is well aware of the divisions and divisions within the American Catholic Church, his Latin American background also provides a continuity with Pope Francis (who was from Argentina).
The Vatican has named him the second pope from the Americas (after Pope Francis) and the first from the Augustinian order.
Like many other church leaders, he faced the fallout from sex abuse scandals during his time in Peru, but the diocese he oversees has vehemently denied any attempt to cover up the events.
Before the conclave began, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the cardinals had stressed in their meetings before the vote that the church needed a pope with a prophetic spirit who could lead a church that does not withdraw into itself but knows how to step outward and shine a light on a world that is in despair and hopelessness.
Leo XIV’s term as the new leader of the world’s Catholics begins at a time when scandals involving the sexual abuse of children by Christian priests have renewed distrust in the church. On the other hand, global crises, such as the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, require greater Vatican intervention. The late Pope Francis, the former leader of the world’s Catholics, was a staunch supporter of the Palestinians, a path that Leo XIV is expected to follow.
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