Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Robert Francis Prevost (L) gestures on the main central loggia balcony of the St Peter's Basilica, after the cardinals ended the conclave, in The Vatican, on May 8, 2025. Robert Francis Prevost was on Thursday elected the first pope from the United States, the Vatican announced. A moderate who was close to Pope Francis and spent years as a missionary in Peru, he becomes the Catholic Church's 267th pontiff, taking the papal name Leo XIV. (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP)