Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order, took the name Leo XIV

In his first words as Pope Francis' successor, uttered from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica, Leo said, "Peace be with you," and emphasised a message of peace, dialogue and missionary evangelisation

He wore the traditional red cape of the papacy, a cape that Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013, suggesting a return to some degree of tradition after Francis' unorthodox pontificate

Prevost had been a leading candidate for the papacy, but there had long been a taboo against a US pope, given the country's geopolitical power already wielded in the secular sphere. But Prevost was seemingly eligible because he's also a Peruvian citizen and lived for years in Peru, first as a missionary and then as an archbishop

Francis clearly had his eye on Prevost and in many ways saw him as his heir apparent

He sent Prevost to take over a complicated diocesan situation in Peru, then brought him to the Vatican in 2023 to serve as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations from around the world, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church. And in January he elevated him into the senior ranks of cardinals. As a result, Prevost had a prominence going into the conclave that few other cardinals had

The crowd in St. Peter's Square erupted in cheers when white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel on the second day of the conclave, the most geographically diverse in history. Priests made the sign of the cross and nuns wept as the crowd shouted "Viva il papa!"

Waving flags from around the world, tens of thousands of people waited to learn who had won and were shocked when an hour later, the senior cardinal deacon appeared on the loggia and said ¿Habemus Papam!¿ and announced the winner was Prevost

He spoke to the crowd in Italian and Spanish, but not English