Habemus Papam: Pope Leo XIV.

 I was born in Rome in the 90s but yesterday I did something I never did before. I was sitting in my office while listening to the reports on the Conclave when all of a sudden, around 6pm white smoke came out of the chimney installed on the roof of the Sistine Chapel. I rushed to St. Peter's Square, nearly got killed a few times while riding my bicycle, went past the hordes and managed to get a decent enough spot halfway through the Via della Conciliazione just in time to hear the famous words Habemus Papam and a tiny man in white came out of the balcony in St. Peter's basilica. We have a pope, to a Roman their local, to the wider Church, their pastor and successor of Peter. The first American pope; Leo XIV.

Robert Francis Prevost was born on 14th September 1955 in Chicago to parents of French, Italian and Spanish descent, as a young man he was already deeply religious. He entered the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977, he then moves on to Rome for his training in theology and canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University. He was ordained around Petertide in 1982 and in 1985 he moved to Peru as a missionary, where he would be spending a big chunk of his life as a pastor in a disadvantaged area. In Peru he also became the rector of the San Jose of Trujillo seminary. His talent and profound spirituality allow him to gain great respect in the Augustinian order, he became the provincial head of the order and then in 2001, he is made Prior General, a role which he undertook until 2013. During these years he works to promote the Augustinian rule around the world, based on communion and service. In 2014, pope Francis nominates him as the apostolic administrator of Peru's Chiclayo diocese and then the following year as its bishop. Partly, because of his great faith, pastoral skills and his gentle character. In 2023, Pope Francis elevates him to the rank of archbishop and has him come to Rome as the Prefect for the Dicastery of Bishops, one of the most important systems within the Roman Curia, he was chosen for this role due to his great skills in spiritual discernment and knowledge of the universal Church. In 2023, Pope Francis makes him a cardinal with the title of Saint Monica. Due to his pastoral and spiritual skills, his knowledge of the Church, the world and its many languages (he speaks fluently English, Spanish, Italian and a few others) and his experience in difficult contexts of great poverty. In 2025, the Holy Spirit guided the cardinals in Conclave to elect him as Bishop of Rome. We pray for His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV, and send him every good wish on the occasion of the beginning of his pontificate.