I never thought I would see the day when an American was elected Pope. It was just one of those things which everyone believed: there will never be an American Pope. We believed that Catholics would get an Asian Pope or an African Pope before North America was represented. But something shifted. Not only is the new Pope an American, he’s a Chicagoan. Dude grew up eating deep-dish pizzas and rooting for the White Sox. Chicago Pope is just some guy called Bob. Seriously! Robert Francis Prevost is known as “Bob” to friends, especially his Villanova classmates. Now his official papal name is Pope Leo XIV. Oh, and Bob is a VIRGO!! An American Virgo named Bob. Those Italians have no idea what they’re getting themselves into.
Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday and took the name Pope Leo XIV, becoming the first pope from the United States and defying the conventional wisdom before the conclave that any American would be a long shot to become pontiff.
A puff of white smoke from a chimney above the Sistine Chapel signaled that the cardinals sequestered inside for two days had elected a new leader the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics. As pope, Leo XIV will confront difficult decisions about the church’s direction, chiefly whether to continue the agenda of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who championed greater inclusion and openness to change until his death last month, or forge a different path.
The cardinals reached their decision after being in conclave for a little more than 24 hours, and after several rounds of voting. The group of 133 cardinals, the most ever to gather in a conclave, included many who were appointed by Francis and some who did not know one another. That had made reaching a quick consensus a serious challenge, given the broad group of contenders and the splits among them about the future of the church.
Despite his American roots, Cardinal Prevost, a 69-year-old, Chicago-born polyglot, is viewed as a churchman who transcends borders. He served for two decades in Peru, where he became a bishop and a naturalized citizen, then rose to lead his international religious order. Until the death of Francis, he held one of the most influential Vatican posts, running the office that selects and manages bishops globally.
A member of the Order of St. Augustine, he resembles Francis in his commitment to the poor and migrants and to meeting people where they are. He told the Vatican’s official news website last year that “the bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom.”
He has spent much of his life outside the United States. Ordained in 1982 at age 27, he received a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. In Peru, he was a missionary, parish priest, teacher and bishop. As the Augustinians’ leader, he visited orders around the world, and speaks Spanish and Italian.
“…He held one of the most influential Vatican posts, running the office that selects and manages bishops globally.” Pope Francis appointed an unusually high number of new bishops as well – Francis was quietly cleaning house and getting some fresh blood into those positions, and Bob was the one who kept his eye on all of those new bishops. When you look at it that way, it’s not really a surprise that Bob became the consensus choice of the conclave.
So, what do we know about Pope Bob’s beliefs? Regarding his stances on LGBTQ issues, much is being made of Bob’s 2012 statements about Western media promoting “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel,” including beliefs and practices like the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.” In Peru, he also came out against gender studies. Re: women’s issues, he opposes ordaining women, but he’s spoken about the need to place women in more leadership positions within the church. It’s very likely that Bob was elected mostly to continue Pope Francis’s advocacy work for immigrants and refugees, because Bob seems to be particularly aligned with Francis on that subject.
Another interesting similarity between Bob and Pope Francis: they both hated JD Vance. Francis preferred to die rather than spend one more moment in the same city as JD Vance. Bob even tweeted “JD Vance is wrong” this year. Anyway, enjoy all of the Chicago Pope tweets!
JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others https://t.co/hDKPKuMXmu via @NCRonline
— Robert Prevost (@drprevost) February 3, 2025
New Pope Leo XIV from Chicago makes his Vatican entrance to the Chicago Bulls 98 lineup introduction video pic.twitter.com/puLzbo5yVl
— THE
Jessi Davin (@jessithebuckeye) May 8, 2025
New Pope serving the body of Christ at mass pic.twitter.com/retLuaWp0o
— Asscela Express 
(@biz_socks) May 8, 2025
Tired: American Pope
Tired: Chicago Pope
Wired: Pope Who Is Known Informally as “Bob” pic.twitter.com/mcKRrxxDL9
— Ella Brockway (@ellabrockway) May 8, 2025
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red. Cover courtesy of Time Mag.
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