Who Is Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, the New Pope? What to Know About Leo XIV

Robert Francis Prevost was chosen Thorsday’s day by 133 cardinals to lead the 1,400 million Roman Catholics in the world. The first Pope of the United States, chose the name Leo XIV.

This is what he should know about the new Pope, how he was chosen and the problems he will face as the successor of Pope Francis, who died month at age 88.

Who is the new Pope?

Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was born in Chicago and served for two decades in Peru, where he became bishop and naturalized citizen, then rose to lead his international religious order. Until the death of his predecessor, Pope Francis, occupied one of the most influential Vatican positions, directing the office that selects and manages bishops worldwide.

Member of the Order of San Agustín, the Francisco answer in their commitment to the poor and the migrants, and with meet people where they are. He told the official Vatican news website last year “The Bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom.”

It has spent much of his life outside the United States. Ordered in 1982 at age 27, he recovered a doctorate in Canon’s Law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquino in Rome. In Peru, he was a missionary, pastor, teacher and bishop. As leader of the Augustinians, he visited orders worldwide. Hello, Spanish and Italian also speak.

Where are you about the main problems?

Often described as reserved and discreet, it stylistically turned away from Francis as Pope. Supporters believe that the advisory process initiated by Francis will probably continue to invite the laity to meet with the bishops.

It is not clear if you will be so open to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics as Francis. Althhehe has not said much recently, in 2012, in 2012 to the bishops, the lament that the Western media and popular culture will encourage “sympathy for beliefs and practices that disagree with the Gospel.” He cited the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families composed of same -sex partners and their adopted children.”

Hello, like many other cardinals, you have received criticism about your treatment with accused priests or sexual abuse.

Who chose the new Pope?

Francis’s successor was selected in a conclave that began on May 7. Cardinals, known as the “Princes of the Church”, are located just below the Pope in the Roman Catholic Church; Together, they are known as the Cardinals College. There are currently 252 cardinals. Only those under 80 are eligible to vote, and there are 135 of them, the greatest number in the history of the Church. Pope Francis named about 80 percent of them.

When a Pope dies or takes a step down, which is unusual, the university chooses a successor. The cardinals cast repeated votes until there is a two -thirds majority. After each vote, the ballots are burned in a stove, along with an additive that produces a color. The smoke is released through a fireplace that can be so. Peter’s Square, where crowds generally gather to look and wait. If a vote ends without a two -thirds majority, the smoke is black. When a decision is reached, the smoke is white.

How long does it take to choose a new Pope?

The length of the papal agrees has varied widely over the centuries. Since 1900, this has the leg to the fifth potato that will be chosen in two days.

The longer conclave duration than Time Tok 14, lasted five days and produced Pope Pius XI in 1922. Francis was chosen after two days of voting.

The shortest conclave, the choice of Pope Pius XII in 1939, toke three tickets. But it does not always have such a fast leg: the conclave that ended with the choice of Pope Gregory X on September 1, 1271, tok two years, nine months and two days.

What are the key issues in the Catholic Church?

The cardinals had to decide whether to choose a Pope who would follow the path of openness and inclusion of Francisco or choose a pontiff that would forge a different one. Duration its 12 -year pontificate, Francis made historical statements that encouraged liberals, including allowing people’s blessing in same -sex unions and raising their voice for migrants.

Cardinals who choose the Pope sometimes are polarized ideological such as many secular voters worldwide. Many conservative Roman Catholic leaders did not agree with Francis.

But the typical divisions between progressive and conservatives do not correspond so perfectly with the ideological battles within the Vatican and the widest church. There are complex debates about the role of LGBTQ women and Catholics in the church, whether priests can marry, responsibility for sexual abuse for clergy and other divisive questions.