Habemus Papam! We have a new Pope!

Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: HABEMUS PAPAM!

Eminentissimum ac reverendissimum Dominum Robertum Franciscum Sanctae Romane Ecclesiae Cardinalem Prevost qui sibi nomen imposuit LEO XIV.

[I announce to you a great joy: WE HAVE A POPE! The Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Robert Francis Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Prevost who has taken the name LEO XIV.]

These were the words pronounced by Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti as he announced to the Eternal City of Rome and the whole world the election of the 267th Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

On May 8 at 6:10 P.M. in Rome (May 9, 12:10 AM in the Philippines), white smoke came out from the famous chimney of the Sistine Chapel, a signal to the world outside that the College of Cardinals has already elected a new Pope who will succeed the late Pope Francis who died last April 21, 2025. Around an hour and two minutes after the white smoke was released, Cardinal Mamberti appeared on the central loggia of Saint Peter’s Basilica and pronounced the news that the College of Cardinals had indeed elected the new pope.

Pope Leo XIV, whose baptismal name is Robert Francis Prevost, appeared and addressed the crowd with his first speech as the Supreme Pontiff. In his speech, the Holy Father first greeted Rome and the World with the words, “Peace be with you!” The Holy Father reminded the faithful that this peace is the peace of the Risen Christ and asked the faithful to remember the weak voice of his late predecessor who gave the Urbi et Orbi (To the City and the World) blessing a day before his predecessor died.

He continued by saying that with the love of God, evil will not prevail. It is interesting to note that Pope Leo XIV was elected on the day when St. Michael appeared at Monte Gargano and at the same time on the day when the Supplications to Our Lady of Pompeii were being recited. Pope Leo XIII, from whom the Holy Father followed his papal name, was the one who wrote the Prayer to Saint Michael and was known to be a social reformer with his encyclical Rerum Novarum. Pope Leo XIII was also known for his focus on restoring the Thomistic Philosophy, with his encyclical Aeterni Patris.

Pope Leo XIV also said that all of us are in the hands of God, and we must be fearless as we move forward hand in hand with God and ourselves. He also reminded the faithful of Pope Francis’ work, that is, to help “build bridges with dialogue and encounter,” and thanked the late holy father.

In his speech, the Holy Father emphasized that “we have to look together on how to be a missionary Church,” and, with open arms, we must be welcoming to everyone “who need our charity, presence, dialogue, love.” He also addressed his flock in Chiclayo in Peru whom he described as “loyal [and] faithful people accompanying the bishop and helping the bishop. He then addressed the people of Rome, Italy, and the world that “we want to be a synodal church, walking and always seeking peace, charity, [and] closeness, especially to those who are suffering.”

He concluded his speech by invoking the intercession of the Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Pompeii, and prayed the Ave Maria together with the crowd.

Before his election, Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost served several posts as an Augustinian Priest, as a Bishop, and as a cardinal member of the Curia. In an article published by the Vatican News, it was written that Cardinal Prevost was born on September 14, 1955 (which is also the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross in the new Roman calendar) in Illinois to Louis Martin Prevost and Mildred Martinez. He entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977 and made his first profession a year later. He made his solemn vows as a full-fledged member of the order in 1981.

He finished his theological studies at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and had further studies in Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas in Rome. He was ordained priest on June 19, 1982. He obtained his licentiate in 1984 and 1987, he finished his doctoral studies in Canon Law. He joined several missions in Peru from 1988 to 1999 and was elected prior general in 2001. In 2007, he was reelected for a second term as the prior general. He was appointed by Pope Francis as Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo on November 3, 2014, and was ordained to the episcopate on December 12, 2014, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. On September 26, 2015, he was appointed Bishop of Chiclayo.

He served as the second vice-president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference and was appointed as a member of the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019 and of the Congregation for Bishops in 2020.

On January 30, 2023, he was appointed to lead one of the offices in the Curia as Prefect for the Dicastery of Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, where he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop.

He was made a Cardinal in the September 30, 2023 Consistory by Pope Francis. He participated in different apostolic journeys, and on the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality last October 4-29, 2023, and October 2-27, 2024.

Cardinal Prevost was appointed as a member of various dicasteries on October 4, 2023. He was recently promoted to the Order of Bishops last February 6 and was given the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Albano.

The now Pope Leo XIV was seen as a bishop with good humor and common sense, and as a bishop who always related with the poor and the marginalized. In a post published by the Augustinian Province of the Santo Niño in the Philippines and by the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu, the then Fr. Prevost visited the parish of the Santo Niño in Mohon, Talisay in 2004 and blessed the convent and religious community. He also celebrated a mass at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu in 2010. The Cebuano devotees of the Santo Niño, and the Cebuanos in general, were grateful after having been visited by someone who is to become pope, surprisingly, a decade and a half later.

*The information on the early life of Pope Leo XIV was obtained from the website of the Vatican News and several social and news media outlets. All credits go to the rightful publishers. No copyright infringement intended.