Catholic Church elects first American Pope

The Catholic Church has a new pope. American Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected the 267th pontiff. He has chosen the name Leo XIV. The 69-year-old Chicago native is the first American Pope and is seen as a diplomat in the church.

Professor Catherine O’Donnell from the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at ASU joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the election of Pope Leo XIV.

Following the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025, 133 cardinals gathered to elect a new pope for the Catholic Church in the secret conclave in Rome. On May 8, 2025, white smoke billowed from the stovetop chimney atop the Sistine Chapel and the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica rang out, signifying the cardinals had elected a new pope.

But when Leo XIV was the one to step out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, religious studies experts like O’Donnell were shocked to see that an American had been elected as pope.

“It was absolutely a surprise,” O’Donnell said. “I was laughing with some other people who kinda work on catholicism, and we all said the one thing we were willing to predict was that it would not be an American, and we were wrong.”

Leo XIV has a background that made his elevation to the papacy sensible in hindsight, according to O’Donnell. “He kinda checks the boxes that you want in a pope,” O’Donnell said. “So he does have this missionary component, he has spent his life in service to others. You can imagine him on a world stage, right, a pope is a global figure.”

The cardinals cast at least four ballots at the Vatican before a cardinal received at least two-thirds of the vote.