The public got a moving first look at Pope Leo XIV.
Just hours after Cardinal Robert Prevost was named the new head of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, Vatican News posted footage of the new pontiff embracing the 132 other members of the College of Cardinals who selected him.
Follow the latest on the election of Pope Leo XIV:
- Who is Robert Prevost? Meet Leo XIV, the first American pope
- Cardinal Robert Prevost elected first American-born pope, takes name Pope Leo XIV
- First American pope is from Chicago, and everybody has jokes about it: ‘All communion wafers will be deep-dish’
- Here’s why American-born Cardinal Robert Prevost might have selected Pope Leo XIV as his papal name
Pope Leo XIV leaves the Sistine Chapel shortly after being elected pontiff on Thursday, May 8, 2025. VATICAN MEDIA
Video shows an unprecedented look at the new pope leaving the Sistine Chapel before the formal announcement to the public Thursday, May 8, 2025. VATICAN MEDIA
Pope Leo XIV shook hands with the cardinals after being elected. VATICAN MEDIAThe Chicago-born pope’s gesture of gratitude in the Sistine Chapel came just hours after he was selected by the cardinals on the second day of the conclave.
The footage shows Pope Leo XIV delivering a prayer before the members of the college from the altar of the historic Roman cathedral, and is then seen kneeling in a private prayer on a prie-dieu.
Finally, he smiles as he shakes hands with the cardinals.
Born in Chicago, Leo XIV is the first-ever American pope.
After rising through the ranks of the Augustinian Order, Prevost was appointed an administrator at the Diocese of Chicago, and a year later made a bishop by the late Pope Francis.
Prevost, a close ally, oversaw many of Francis’ most radical reforms to the Catholic Church.
Pope Leo XIV greets cardinals shortly after being elected. VATICAN MEDIA
Pope Leo XIV is the first pope from the United States. VATICAN MEDIAThe 14th pope to choose Leo, Prevost’s most recent namesake was also revered for his Catholic social teachings.
Leo XIII was remembered largely for his famed 1891 “Rerum Novarum” — Latin for “On New Things” — which reflected on workers’ rights and capitalism in the midst of the Industrial Revolution.
Leo XIV is expected to celebrate Mass at the Sistine Chapel on Friday morning and will deliver his first Sunday noon blessing from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica this weekend.
