Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States

AFP English

Robert Francis Prevost has become Pope Leo XIV after cardinals from around the globe chose him to be the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. He is the first pope from the United States in the Church's 2,000-year history.

Transcript

00:00He's the first Pope from the United States in history. Chicago-born Robert Francis

00:09Provost has become Pope Leo the 14th, spiritual leader to the world's 1.4

00:14billion Catholics. The 69-year-old pontiff spent more than 20 years of his

00:21life in Peru, where he was bishop and acquired nationality.

00:30Tens of thousands cheered Leo as he appeared on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, with

00:45many having no idea who he was. But the American, who had only been made cardinal by the late

00:51Pope Francis in 2023, had been on many Vatican Watchers lists of potential popes. Leo had

00:58been spoken about as someone who could defend and further Francis's legacy. Throughout

01:02his career, the new Pope defended the poor and underprivileged, and shared articles

01:07online critical of U.S. President Donald Trump's anti-migrant policies. The new Pope reportedly

01:12speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese, in addition to reading Latin and

01:17German. Having someone with his language capacities, his experience coming from the south side of

01:24Chicago, a missionary, all of the things that he brings to the table, it's a way, in a nutshell,

01:32to just say to Donald Trump, the Catholic Church global is going to stand up against what you're

01:39doing against the poor and against the earth.

01:43Pope Leo the 14th now faces a monumentous task to unite a divided church and to assert his

01:49moral voice on a conflict-torn world stage. In his first appearance on the balcony of St.

01:54Peter's Basilica, Leo called to build bridges through dialogue, through encounter, to come

01:59together as one people, always in peace.

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