The smoke was white. But the face on the balcony wasn't the one the bookies expected.
In May 2025, the Catholic Church did something it had never done in two millennia. It elected a man born in Chicago. For those who haven't been keeping up with the rapid-fire shifts in the Vatican over the last year, the answer to the question of who is the new pope is Robert Francis Prevost—now known as Pope Leo XIV.
He’s not just "the American guy." Honestly, that label is a bit of a shortcut that misses the actual complexity of the man now sitting in the Chair of Peter. He’s a canon lawyer, a former missionary, and a dual citizen of the U.S. and Peru. Basically, he’s a bridge-builder who spent more time in the trenches of South America than the skyscrapers of Illinois.
Why the election of Pope Leo XIV changed everything
When Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88, the world felt a bit of a tremor. Francis had been the "Pope of Firsts," but his successor has already managed to carve out a very different, yet equally historic, niche.
Leo XIV was elected on May 8, 2025. It only took four rounds of voting. That’s fast. It suggests the College of Cardinals knew exactly what they wanted: stability mixed with a very specific kind of global experience.
You've probably heard him called the "American Pope," but he’s also the first Augustinian to lead the Church in centuries. That matters because the Augustinian vibe is all about community and "oneness." You can see it in his papal motto: In illo uno unum—"In the one Christ, we are one."
The man behind the title
Before he was Pope Leo XIV, he was just Bob Prevost from the Chicago suburbs. He grew up in Dolton, Illinois. He’s a Villanova grad. He’s a guy who knows what a Chicago winter feels like and probably knows his way around a deep-dish pizza, though the Vatican diet is likely a bit more refined these days.
But look at his resume:
- He spent decades as a missionary in Peru.
- He was the Prior General of the Augustinians in Rome for 12 years.
- He served as the Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru.
- Pope Francis brought him back to Rome in 2023 to run the Dicastery for Bishops—basically the HR department that picks the world’s bishops.
This isn't a career bureaucrat. He’s a guy who has lived in the global south and understands why the Church is growing there while it struggles in the West.
What has the new pope actually done so far?
A lot of people thought he would just be "Francis 2.0." That hasn't exactly been the case. While he’s definitely keeping the doors open—continuing the focus on synodality and reaching out to the margins—Leo XIV has a more legalistic, precise streak. Remember, he's a doctor of canon law. He likes rules, but he likes them to make sense for the people they serve.
Early in 2026, he made a major move by calling an "Extraordinary Consistory." He gathered the world's cardinals not to pick new members, but just to talk. He wanted to discuss the "spirit" of the Second Vatican Council. He’s been very vocal about the fact that we need to stop arguing about what the Council meant and actually read the documents.
He’s also been tackling the big stuff:
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- Artificial Intelligence: He’s working on a social encyclical specifically about AI and how it affects human dignity.
- Global Migration: He’s echoed Francis’s passion for migrants, recently planning a trip to the Canary Islands to see the crisis there firsthand.
- Liturgical Peace: He’s trying to cool down the "liturgy wars" that have been splitting parishes apart, focusing more on unity than on which side is "winning."
The "Leo Effect" in 2026
We are now in his first full calendar year. The "honeymoon phase" is over, and the real work is starting. He just closed the 2025 Jubilee Year, which was mostly planned by Francis, and now the agenda is 100% his.
There’s a different energy in Rome. It’s a bit more organized. A bit more "American" in its efficiency, perhaps? But he’s also deeply traditional in ways that surprise people. For the closing of the Holy Door on January 6, 2026, he introduced a new papal staff—a ferula—that depicts a resurrected Christ rather than the suffering one. It was a subtle but powerful signal of hope.
Breaking down the misconceptions
People love to put popes in boxes. "He’s a liberal." "He’s a conservative." With Pope Leo XIV, the boxes don't quite fit.
He's been very firm on pro-life issues, recently giving a "State of the World" speech that was one of the strongest defenses of the unborn and critiques of surrogacy seen in years. At the same time, he’s pushing for radical transparency in Church finances and continued reform in how clergy abuse cases are handled.
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He’s also the first pope born after World War II. That brings a different perspective to global politics. He isn't looking back at the 20th century with nostalgia; he's looking at the 21st century with a lawyer’s eye for detail and a missionary’s heart for the poor.
What should you watch for next?
If you’re trying to keep up with who is the new pope and where he’s taking the Church, keep an eye on his travel schedule for the rest of 2026.
Rumors are swirling about a return to the United States. If he visits Chicago or Philadelphia, it will be a massive moment for American Catholics. There’s also talk of him visiting Algeria—the birthplace of St. Augustine. That would be a huge nod to his roots and a significant move for Christian-Muslim relations.
How to follow the new papacy
If you want to stay informed without the filter of social media outrage, there are a few solid ways to track what Leo XIV is actually saying.
- Read the General Audiences: He’s currently doing a series on the documents of Vatican II. It’s basically a free theology course.
- Check the Vatican Press Office: They release the full transcripts of his speeches. Don't rely on the 10-second soundbites on the news.
- Look for the Encyclical: When that document on AI drops later this year, it’s going to be a game-changer for how religious people view technology.
The Church is in a weird spot. It's polarized, it's shrinking in some places and exploding in others, and it's trying to figure out its place in a world that feels increasingly chaotic. Robert Prevost—Pope Leo XIV—is the man tasked with steering that ship. Whether he succeeds or not will depend on if he can truly live up to his motto and bring that "oneness" to a very divided family.
To get a better sense of his vision, start by reading his January 8 homily from the Extraordinary Consistory. It lays out his roadmap for a "collegial" Church that spends less time fighting internally and more time engaging with the modern world's actual problems.