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From a promising math prodigy in America to a daring missionary in Peru, horseback-riding Pope Leo XIV has now ascended to the top role in the Catholic Church.
History-maker Robert Prevost is the first American Pope, and his incredible life has seen him climb from an altar boy to head of the Vatican.
Known as Father Bob, Prevost was announced as Pope Leo XIV on Thursday after less than 24 hours of voting in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
The dark horse beat steep odds of 66/1 to become God’s messenger on Earth before being unveiled to crowds of the faithful in Rome.
But his humble beginnings started all the way over in Chicago, Illinois, where he was born on September 14, 1955.
He was born to immigrant parents of French, Italian and Spanish descent.
Prevost’s first religious gig saw him work as an altar boy at St. Mary of the Assumption Church, just outside the far South Side of Chicago.
He finished his high school education in 1973 at St. Augustine Seminary High School, where he consistently made the honor roll and received a Letter of Commendation for his outstanding academic performance.
The whizz-kid then earned a degree in mathematics at Villanova University in 1977.
The Pope-to-be then joined the Order of St. Augustine, taking his vows in 1978.
He became a priest in 1982, with pictures showing the newly-ordained Rev. Robert Prevost greeting Pope John Paul II shortly after.
The multi-talented Catholic Church head can speak English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese – and can even read Latin and German.
After being ordained a priest, he joined a mission in Peru in 1985 where he spent many years heading up a seminary.
He returned to the US in 1999, but before that had returned regularly to serve as a pastor and a prior in his home city.
Although originally American, the new pope also holds Peruvian citizenship and is highly regarded in Peru for his dedicated work with marginalized groups.
Prevost spent 10 years as a local parish pastor and as a teacher at a seminary in Trujillo in northwestern Peru.
During his momentous first speech, Leo spoke fondly of his predecessor Francis.
He said: “We still hear in our ears the weak but always courageous voice of Pope Francis who blessed us.”
Pope Francis made Prevost the Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru one year after he became Pope.
Prevost was known for his high-profile role as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in Latin America – tasked with selecting and supervising bishops.
He was made archbishop in 2023 and within a few months he was promoted to the cardinal by Francis.
The horseriding Pope is seen as more traditional than Francis – but not the conservative hardliner some in the church were hoping for after his predecessor’s efforts to make the faith more progressive.
The new pontiff urged people to “build bridges through dialogue, through encounter, to come together as one people, always in peace”.
He also spoke in Spanish, saying to his South American friends: “I would particularly like to say hello to my compatriots from Peru.
“It was a great pleasure for me to work in Peru.”
US President Trump was quick to congratulate the Pope Leo XIV and said it’s “a great honour” for the US.
Sir Keir Starmer branded the election of the first American Pope as a “momentous moment” and said that he looks “forward to meeting the Holy Father and continuing to work closely with the Catholic Church”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated the new Pope.
He said: “Ukraine deeply values the Holy See’s consistent position in upholding international law, condemning the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine, and protecting the rights of innocent civilians.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hoped the American pontiff would engage in “constructive dialogue” with the Kremlin.
The new Pope’s speech in full
Here is Leo XIV’s speech from the Vatican balcony in full:
Peace be with all of you
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of Christ resurrected, the good pastor who gave life for the Lord and I would also like this greeting of peace to come into your hearts and join everyone, whoever they are, all peoples on the whole earth, peace be with you.
This is the peace of Christ resurrected, it’s a peace that’s disarming, humble and will also persevere and it comes from God, God who loves all of us unconditionally.
And let us keep hearing even the weak voices and Pope Francis was always courageous and blessed Rome.
The pope that blessed Rome, he is blessing the whole world on that Easter morning. So let us follow up that blessing.
God loves us, God loves all of you, sin will not prevail, we are all in the hands of God.
And at the same time without fear, let us be reunited hand in hand with God and amongst ourselves let’s move forward because we are the disciples of Christ, Christ preceded us, the world needs your light, humanity needs him as a bridge in order to be able to get to God and reach God’s love.
You must also help us and help one another. And we all must be a single peoples.
I would also like to thank all my brother cardinals who have chosen me to be the successor to Peter and to walk together with you as a united church always trying to find peace, justice and always trying to work as men and women faithful to Jesus Christ without fear and also to be missionaries.
I am a son of St Augustin, I am Christian with you and to that extent we can all walk together towards that land that God has prepared us for.
To the church of Rome, I would like to give you a speciial greeting. Together we must try to find out how to be a church that builds bridges, establishes dialogue, that’s always open to receive on this piazza with open arms to anyone that needs our charity, our presents, dialogue and love.
And I would just like also t osay something in Spanish. I particularly like to say hello to my compatriots in Peru
To all of you, brothers and sisters, of Rome, the whole world, we need to be a church that walks a path of peace, that always looks for charity, that is always looking to be close especially to those that are suffering
Today, the day in which we pray to the Madonna of Pompeii, our mother Mary always wants to stay close to us and help us with her love and her intercession.
Let us pray together, this new mission, for the whole church, and for peace throughout the world.
And let’s ask for this special grace for Mary, our mother. Hail Mary
The new Pope, who is active on social media, has repeatedly voiced his concerns over Donald Trump‘s immigration policies and shared his progressive views.
Both Leo and Francis were said to be close and Prevost was considered by Vatican insiders to be a potential kingmaker for the current election.
But few considered the new Leo XIV the likely winner of the secret vote.
The last pope to take the name Leo was Leo XIII, an Italian who led the church from 1878 to 1903.
White smoke erupted from the Vatican at around 5pm on May 8 as a signal that the new pontiff had been chosen.
The Pope greeted the world for the first time on the balcony in the iconic St Peter’s Basilica overlooking St Peter’s Square.
The newly elected pontiff appeared in papal robes – complete with a white silk sash and skullcap and red leather shoes.
The announcement of the new pope was made after clouds of white smoke or fumata bianca emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel as a bell rang.
Crowds of faithful Catholics erupted with joy and were seen cheering in the iconic St. Peter’s Square.
