Robert Prevost, the first US cleric to lead the Roman Catholic church, has said “evil will not prevail” as he addressed a crowd of 100,000 pilgrims and tourists in his first speech as Pope Leo XIV from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica.
The stunning election on Thursday of Prevost, who is 69 years old, as the church’s 267th pontiff, ended the Vatican’s longstanding opposition to the idea of a pontiff from the US.
He is the first American to fill the role of pope, although he is considered as much a cardinal from Latin America because of the many years he spent as a missionary in Peru, before becoming a bishop there.
Born in Chicago in 1955 to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian descent, Prevost served as an altar boy and was ordained as a priest in 1982. Although he moved to Peru three years later, he returned regularly to the US to serve as a pastor and a prior in his home city.
He has Peruvian nationality and is fondly remembered as a figure who worked with marginalised communities and helped build bridges.
He spent 10 years as a local parish pastor and as a teacher at a seminary in Trujillo in north-western Peru.
Observers said the Chicago-born cleric’s papal name historically symbolised strength during crisis, and could be taken as a sign that he would probably follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis, who died in April aged 88.
Donald Trump, who on Saturday angered Catholics by posting an AI-generated picture of himself as pope on social media, was among the first world leaders to congratulate Prevost, even though the pair looked set to clash in a similar way that the US president did with Francis.
“It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
Prevost, who in his first speech called for “peace” and “to build bridges”, has previously criticised the Trump administration’s treatment of refugees and migrants, saying in a recent post that the US government did not “see the suffering” in its policies.
His first words to the raucous crowd celebrating in St Peter’s Square were “peace be with you all”. “I would like peace to reach your families, all peoples, all the earth,” he said, speaking in Italian, then switching to Spanish – and saying not a word in English.
Inside the Vatican’s cloistered halls, the newly elected pontiff is preparing for his first appearance. He will choose his papal name, a symbolic act often interpreted as a signal of the kind of pope he intends to be. He will then don the white papal cassock and the ceremonial Fisherman’s Ring, symbolizing his succession to St. Peter.
Afterward, the new Pope will be led through the Hall of Benedictions and onto the balcony to greet the faithful. He is expected to deliver his first apostolic blessing, Urbi et Orbi (“to the city and the world”), addressing both the crowd in the square and millions watching worldwide.