Pope Leo XIVThe 1.4 billion Catholics now have a new Pope. He is Pope Leo XIV. This was signalled by the white smoke that rose today from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. The world knew the identity of the new leader when he stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to address the faithful for the first time.

Cardinal Robert Prevost, an American-born cardinal of Peruvian descent, was elected as the 267th pope and took the name Leo XIV. 

Prevost earned his bachelor’s in mathematics from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and went on receive his diploma in theology from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.

White smoke rose today from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel

He was later sent to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical Saint Thomas Aquinas University and was, as CNN put it, ordained as a priest in June 1982. Later in his career, he taught canon law in the seminary in Trujillo, Peru.

For some days now, 133 red-robed cardinals from across the globe gathered in seclusion to vote on the successor to the papacy in a conclave in the Sistine Chapel—beneath Michelangelo’s iconic frescoes—where they cast their ballots in successive rounds until one candidate secured the necessary two-thirds majority.

To occupy the throne of St Peter’s, the conclave is a centuries-old tradition rooted in Catholic history. The ritual of the white smoke, created by burning the ballots with special chemicals, has long served as a visible signal to the world that a new pope has been chosen.

As crowds gather in St. Peter’s Square in anticipation, all eyes now turn to the basilica’s central balcony, where the new pope will soon be introduced with the traditional words: “Habemus Papam”—“We have a pope.”