Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has made history.
The newly elected pontiff, now known as Pope Leo XIV, is the first pope from the United States, and the new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
The 69-year-old from Chicago stepped into his role as the 267th pope on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday evening, addressing thousands of cheering Catholics with the words: “Peace be with you all.”
As he addressed the crowds in St. Peter’s Square, Leo paid tribute to the late pontiff Francis, urging them to remember the late pope’s legacy of unity before outlining his own vision for the Catholic Church.
“We have to seek together to be a missionary church. A church that builds bridges and dialogue,” he said. Speaking in Italian, Leo called on people to “show our charity” to others “and be in dialogue with love.”
Leo was chosen just two days after a group of 133 cardinals gathered in conclave to select a new pontiff, suggesting that he quickly impressed his peers during the secretive process. He is expected to build on Francis’ reforms
His predecessors, Francis and Benedict XVI, were both revealed in the evening of the conclave’s second day, while John Paul II, the longest-reigning pope of modern times, was selected on the third day, in 1978.
The coming days are for celebration; Leo’s name will be uttered in homilies and Masses across the Roman Catholic world, and will spark particularly joyous scenes in his home country, where one in five adults identifies as Catholic.
But leading the largest Christian denomination through an unpredictable era will require difficult and consequential decisions.
The new pope inherits a church whose image and ambitions were transformed by its predecessor; Francis pulled the priorities of the church away from social issues such as abortion, homosexuality, gender roles and contraception, advocating instead for the world’s poor, displaced and needy, and instilling a mission anchored in altruism.
And he must deal with crises from within, too. Francis’ failure to bring a close to the years-long scandal of child sexual abuse in the church despite some important steps will also reverberate through his successor’s papacy.
How to continue that trajectory will be a defining choice for the new pontiff, who, in his first moments as the new pope, signaled respect for Francis’ legacy but perhaps also a desire to set his papacy apart. In a reversion to norms, he wore traditional papal robes, whereas Francis had stepped out onto the balcony in a simple white cassock.
Culled: CNN