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Pope Leo XIV, first from the United States, gets emotional as he greets the world. Watch

Born as Robert Francis Prevost in 1955 in Chicago, Illinois, Pope Leo XIV grew up in a devout Catholic family in the Midwest.

Pope Leo's election took place weeks after the death of Pope Francis, who was the first Latin American pope (Image source: @calix517/X)

In a historic development for the Catholic Church, Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago was elected as the 267th pope on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Upon his election, he chose the name Leo XIV, becoming the first American to ascend to the papacy.

Shortly after the white smoke appeared from the Sistine Chapel chimney, Vatican News released video footage of the newly elected pontiff embracing each cardinal in turn. The footage captured the moment of prayer at the altar, followed by a quiet reflection as Pope Leo XIV knelt at a prie-dieu. He then stood to greet his fellow cardinals with handshakes and smiles.

In another video, Pope Leo XIV can be seen getting emotional as he greets the world from the balcony overlooking St Peter’s Square for the first time.

Watch here:

Really beautiful to see how moved the new Holy Father was at his election pic.twitter.com/WkUggc75ZV

— Fr. Tom Bombadil (@calix517) May 8, 2025

Several social media users reacted to the clip, with one saying, “Man, just became responsible for 1.4B people, and a lot more than that.” Another user commented, “The first thing I noticed. Humility.”

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“Bro has just been elected Pope. I don’t know how one holds that together. Everything is different now,” a third user reacted.

Born as Robert Francis Prevost in 1955 in Chicago, Illinois, he grew up in a devout Catholic family in the Midwest. After entering the Order of Saint Augustine (O S A) in 1977, he was ordained a priest in 1982.

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In his first remarks delivered in Italian, Pope Leo XIV hoped that his message of peace would “enter your hearts, to reach your families and all people, wherever they are.” Honouring his predecessor, Pope Francis, he encouraged the faithful to “move forward, without fear, united, hand in hand with God and with each other.” He also expressed gratitude to his fellow cardinals for choosing him as the new Pope.

Pope Leo’s election took place weeks after the death of Pope Francis, who was the first Latin American pope, and led the Church for 12 years.