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 Ocean State is one of just three states that still prohibit most retail on Thanksgiving — a throwback to centuries-old blue laws that continue to shape when Rhode Islanders can (and can’t) shop
Researchers at URI and the state Department of Environmental Management to spend five years on a comprehensive study of Rhode Island’s wild turkey population
November 28 - January 2, 2026
Will the Rhode Island Senate remain divided? Plus, Helena Foulkes leans on a big name to raise more campaign cash
From restaurants to bakeries to dance studios, local business owners describe customer losses, creative pivots, and the hard-earned resilience they’ve needed to keep going since the westbound bridge shut down in late 2023
The closures are the latest in what is expected to be a wave of parish consolidations across Rhode Island