The Catholic Church Has Elected Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope

Prevost, who will take the name Leo XIV, was elected as the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025.
Andrew Medichini/AP
Share
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025.
Andrew Medichini/AP
The Catholic Church Has Elected Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope
Copy

Live video feed from the Associated Press.

Cardinal Robert Prevost, an American missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and led the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church. Prevost, 69, took the name Leo XIV.

White smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney Thursday at 6:07 p.m. local time, signaling that a pontiff had been elected to lead the Catholic Church.

Read more updated news on the Associated Press.

The Community Libraries of Providence offer a slew of free programming every week for kids and adults at their nine locations around the city. We highlight a few of these events in our monthly community libraries segment – from a local author fair to a conversation about death doulas
A Wyoming-based firm has agreed to buy the Sunny Acres Trailer Park for $13 million. Because Rhode Island law grants trailer park residents a right of first refusal, Sharlene Patton is trying to convince her neighbors to buy the park themselves
A reprieve for the end of SNAP benefits, and Mayor Smiley on housing and other top Providence issues
A federal judge in Providence has ordered the USDA to release emergency funds to restore food assistance, siding with Rhode Island nonprofits and cities nationwide that sued over the shutdown’s freeze on SNAP benefits
The nonprofit trying to buy Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital is still struggling to close its financing