After less than 24 hours of seclusion in the Vatican, cardinals ended the 2025 papal conclave with the election of a new pontiff. The man chosen, Cardinal Robert Prevost, will be known as Pope Leo XIV — the first pope ever from the United States.

The newly anointed Pope Leo XIV came to the balcony clad in a white cassock topped by a red cape trimmed in ermine and draped in a gold embroidered sash. He clasped his hands in prayer and smiled as the crowds chanted his name, and “ Viva La Papa! ”

Prevost, 69, took the name Leo XIV. He grew up in Dolton and attended St. Mary of the Assumption. A childhood friend said maybe now that he's pope, their old church will be reopened.