American bishop Robert Francis Prevost decried the “homosexual lifestyle.” He was just elected pope.

Pope Leo XIV on the loggia after his election
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

On only the second day of their conclave to elect a new pope, the College of Cardinals on Thursday sent a message of white smoke over the Vatican signaling to 1.4 billion Catholics around the world that a new leader of the Church had been chosen.

An hour later, American bishop Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was announced as the new pontiff. He takes the name Pope Leo XIV.

Minutes later, looking at once both humbled and confident in his appearance on a balcony over St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo spoke in Italian and Spanish to the tens of thousands assembled to welcome him. He first paid homage to Pope Francis for his dedication and service.

During his predecessor’s most recent hospitalization, Prevost presided over the Rosary for Pope Francis’s health in Saint Peter’s Square on March 3.

Echoing the inclusive message of Francis, Pope Leo said the mission of the Church is “to receive everyone, to welcome everyone in charity and love.”

The church should be a missionary institution, he said.

Like Francis, Pope Leo has roots in Latin America. He served in Peru as a missionary from 1985 to 1986 and from 1988 to 1998 as a parish pastor, diocesan official, seminary teacher and administrator. He was made a cardinal by Francis in 2023.

In October 2013, he…

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