Habemus papam. White smoke erupted from the chimney atop the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on Thursday night, just after 6 PM Central European Summer Time, signalling the election of a new pope.
When they saw the smoke rising, the people waiting in front of St. Peter’s Basilica cheered and waved to the cameras and onlookers.
Then, on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, “proto-diacon” cardinal Dominique Mamberti announced the next pope’s name and the name he would use to start his pontificate: American cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who has decided to go by Leo XIV.
Born in Chicago, the 69-year-old is the first American pope in history.
He was made cardinal by the late Francis in 2023.
A little more than an hour passed between the white smoke and the announcement of the new pope.
Leo XIV was elected in the evening of the second day of the conclave, after two inconclusive rounds of voting in the morning, signalled by black smoke emanating from the Sistine Chapel chimney.
The new pontiff and successor to the late Pope Francis needed to obtain a two-thirds majority, or 89 votes, in order to be elected by the 133 cardinals eligible to vote.
