Robert Francis Prevost was elected on Thursday by 133 cardinals to guide the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics. The primary pope from the USA, he selected the title Leo XIV.
Right here’s what to know in regards to the new pope, how he was chosen and the problems he’ll face because the successor to Pope Francis, who died last month at 88.
Who’s the brand new pope?
Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was born in Chicago and served for twenty years in Peru, the place he grew to become a bishop and a naturalized citizen, then rose to guide his worldwide non secular order. Till the dying of his predecessor, Pope Francis, he held some of the influential Vatican posts, operating the workplace that selects and manages bishops globally.
A member of the Order of St. Augustine, he resembles Francis in his dedication to the poor and migrants, and to assembly individuals the place they’re. He instructed the Vatican’s official information web site final 12 months that “the bishop shouldn’t be imagined to be a bit prince sitting in his kingdom.”
He has spent a lot of his life exterior the USA. Ordained in 1982 at 27, he obtained a doctorate in canon regulation on the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. In Peru, he was a missionary, parish priest, instructor and bishop. Because the Augustinians’ chief, he visited orders around the globe. He additionally speaks Spanish and Italian.
The place does he stand on the key points?
Usually described as reserved and discreet, he would depart stylistically from Francis as pope. Supporters imagine he’ll more than likely proceed the consultative course of began by Francis to ask lay individuals to satisfy with bishops.
It’s unclear whether or not he shall be as open to homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics as Francis was. Though he has not mentioned a lot lately, in a 2012 handle to bishops, he lamented that Western information media and well-liked tradition fostered “sympathy for beliefs and practices which might be at odds with the Gospel.” He cited the “gay way of life” and “different households comprised of same-sex companions and their adopted kids.”
He, like many different cardinals, has drawn criticism over his dealings with clergymen accused of sexual abuse.
Who selected the brand new pope?
Francis’ successor was chosen in a conclave that started on Could 7. Cardinals, referred to as the “princes of the church,” rank slightly below the pope within the Roman Catholic Church; collectively, they’re referred to as the College of Cardinals. There are presently 252 cardinals. Solely these underneath the age of 80 are eligible to vote, and there are 135 of them, the biggest quantity within the church’s historical past. Pope Francis appointed about 80 p.c of them.
When a pope dies or steps down — which is uncommon — the school chooses a successor. The cardinals solid repeated votes till there’s a two-thirds majority. After each vote, the poll papers are burned in a range, together with an additive that produces a coloration. The smoke is launched by means of a chimney that may be seen from St. Peter’s Sq., the place crowds sometimes collect to observe and wait. If a vote ends and not using a two-thirds majority, the smoke is black. When a choice is reached, the smoke is white.
How lengthy did it take for him to be elected?
The size of papal conclaves has diversified broadly over the centuries. Since 1900, this has been the fifth pope to be elected in two days.
The longest conclave throughout that point took 14 ballots, lasted 5 days and produced Pope Pius XI in 1922. Francis was elected after two days of voting.
The shortest conclave, the election of Pope Pius XII in 1939, took three ballots. But it surely has not all the time been so fast: The conclave that ended with the election of Pope Gregory X on Sept. 1, 1271, took two years, 9 months and two days.
What are the important thing points within the Catholic Church?
The cardinals needed to resolve whether or not to decide on a pope who would comply with Francis’ path of openness and inclusion or choose a pontiff who would forge a distinct one. Throughout his 12-year preach, Francis made landmark declarations that inspired liberals, together with permitting the blessing of individuals in same-sex unions and elevating his voice for migrants.
The cardinals who elect the pope generally look as ideologically polarized as many secular voters across the globe. Many conservative Roman Catholic leaders disagreed with Francis.
However the typical divisions between progressives and conservatives don’t correspond so neatly with the ideological battles inside the Vatican and the broader church. There are advanced debates over the position of ladies and L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics within the church, whether or not clergymen needs to be allowed to marry, accountability for sexual abuse by clergy and different divisive questions.
