# Sixty-nine-year-old Robert Prevost of the US has been chosen as the 276th pope, the first American pontiff in history. The Chicago-born will be known as Pope Leo the 14th. His election comes despite the Vatican’s longstanding opposition to the idea of a pope from the US, because of the country’s superpower status. Prevost was made a cardinal by the late Pope Francis in 2023. Addressing the crowd gathered at St Peter’s Square, he called for the Catholic church to always seek peace and unity.
Robert Prevost becomes the first American pope