ROBERT FRANCIS PREVOST, NOW LEO XIV, IS FIRST AMERICAN POPE Cardinal Prevost was elected pontiff on the second day of the conclave, becoming the leader of 1.4 billion Roman Catholics. He

greeted his new followers by saying, “Peace be with you.” Published May 8, 2025Updated May 21, 2025 * * Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times * Associated Press * Murad Sezer/Reuters *

Vatican Media, via Associated Press * Stoyan Nenov/Reuters * Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times * Dan Kitwood/Getty Images * * Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times * Gianni Cipriano

for The New York Times * Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press * Marko Djurica/Reuters * Vatican Media, via Reuters Pinned Jason HorowitzMotoko Rich and HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED. Robert Francis

peace in the world and “a united church, always seeking peace and justice.” He will soon confront difficult decisions affecting the direction of the church and the world’s 1.4 billion Roman

Catholics. As ideological camps tussled before the conclave over whether to continue the inclusive agenda of the last pope, Francis, or return to a conservative doctrinal path, supporters

had pitched then-Cardinal Prevost, 69, as a balanced alternative. In his first remarks to the crowd that had gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Leo put great emphasis on the need to build

bridges. His election was greeted with rejoicing in Vatican City but also in Chicago, where he was born, and in Peru, where he served for more than two decades. President Trump called his

selection “a great honor” for the United States. The cardinals reached their decision after being in conclave for a little more than 24 hours, and after several rounds of voting. The group

of 133 cardinals, the most ever to gather in a conclave, included many who were appointed by Francis and some who did not know one another. That had made reaching a quick consensus a serious

challenge, given the broad group of contenders and the splits among them about the future of the church. Here’s what to know: * WHO IS POPE LEO XIV? Despite his American roots, Leo, a

Chicago-born polyglot, is a churchman who transcends borders. He served for two decades in Peru, where he became a bishop and a naturalized citizen, and then was appointed to one of the most

influential posts at the Vatican by Francis, who made him a cardinal in 2023. Read more › * GLOBAL REACTION: World leaders sent congratulatory messages to the new leader of the globe’s 1.4

billion Roman Catholics, whose election was met with bursts of civic and national pride. “Many people are here very moved,” said Elmer Uchofen, a priest in Chiclayo, Peru, where the new pope

once served as bishop. * FIRST WORDS: Read a transcript of the new pope’s speech from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. Read more › * POLITICAL POSTS: A social media account under the

name of the new pope has previously expressed unease with President Trump’s immigration policies and the views of the administration’s most prominent Catholic, Vice President JD Vance. Read

more › * CATHOLICS IN AMERICA: The election of the first American pope comes at a time when 20 percent of American adults identify as Catholic, a share that has been stable for the past

decade or so. But the face of Catholicism in America has changed along with its demographics. Read more › Robert Chiarito and IN ILLINOIS, THE POPE’S BROTHER REFLECTS ON HISTORY. John

Prevost knew there was a chance his brother could be elected pope. “Last Saturday when I was at church, one of the priests came over and told me the odds in Las Vegas were 18 to 1,” said Mr.

Prevost, who lives in suburban Chicago. “He didn’t have a doubt. He thought it would definitely be my brother.” But Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was preparing for the conclave,

shrugged it off when his older brother called from Illinois. “He said, ‘No way, not going to happen,’” recalled Mr. Prevost, 71, who is retired from a career as an educator and school

principal. Of course, it did happen. Cardinal Prevost is now Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff. And for his friends and family back in Illinois, where the pope grew up, everything is

different. In a wide-ranging interview on Thursday afternoon at his home in New Lenox, a tidy city of 27,000 people about 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, John Prevost reflected on

his brother’s ascent to the papacy, the new pope’s values and his American roots. Leo, whom Mr. Prevost is accustomed to calling Rob, “has great, great desire to help the downtrodden and the

disenfranchised, the people who are ignored,” Mr. Prevost said. He predicted that his brother would carry on the legacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis. “The best way I could describe him

right now is that he will be following in Francis’ footsteps,” Mr. Prevost said. “They were very good friends. They knew each other before he was pope, before my brother even was bishop.”

Mr. Prevost said he usually spoke by phone with his brother every night, but had not talked to him since the conclave began. He said the new pope was “simple, really. He’s not going to go

out for a 19-course meal.” Last August, Mr. Prevost said, his brother stayed with him at his home in New Lenox for a few weeks. The brothers grew up in Dolton, Ill., just outside Chicago,

and attended church and school at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish on Chicago’s South Side. Their father, Louis Prevost, was a school superintendent and their mother, Mildred Prevost, was a

librarian who was deeply involved in parish life. In addition to John and Robert, now Leo, the Prevosts had one other son, who now lives in Florida. The future pope left Illinois to attend

high school in Michigan and college in Pennsylvania, but returned to his home state for graduate school and for various postings with the Augustinians, the religious order that he joined.

Leo also spent much of his career in Peru. John Prevost described Pope Leo as “middle of the road” and said, “I don’t think we’ll see extremes either way.” But, he said, his brother would

not be afraid to use this new platform. “I don’t think he’ll stay quiet for too long if he has something to say,” Mr. Prevost said. “I know he’s not happy with what’s going on with

immigration. I know that for a fact. How far he’ll go with it is only one’s guess, but he won’t just sit back. I don’t think he’ll be the silent one.” Asked if his brother had expressed a

desire to be pope, Mr. Prevost said “not really.” But over time, as he ascended the ranks of the church, his answer to that question had started to shift. “It was ‘absolutely not, absolutely

not, God forbid,’” Mr. Prevost said. “And then it became, ‘Well, if it’s what God wants, then we’ll deal with it.’” Thursday was a blur for Mr. Prevost, whose phone rang constantly during

an interview and whose street was lined with news trucks. “I get that people are interested because it’s a first in so many ways,” Mr. Prevost said. Asked what his parents, who died years

ago, would be thinking, he said, “They would be on Cloud 9. Absolutely incredible. You couldn’t even dream this.” When he is finally able to reach his brother, Mr. Prevost said he planned to

ask what he would do for relaxation and whether he would ever really be off the job. He said he hoped to go see him in Rome, but did not know yet how that would work. In the immediate term,

though, there was one important fact to clear up. The pope, Mr. Prevost said, was not a fan of the Chicago Cubs, as some had reported. He had always cheered for the White Sox. Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT WHAT’S IN A NAME? IN THE CASE OF LEO XIV, LESSONS IN BRIDGING HISTORICAL SHIFTS. What’s in a name? A lot, it turns out. Matteo Bruni, a Vatican spokesman, told reporters

on Thursday that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost’s choice to be called Pope Leo XIV had been a clear and deliberate reference to the last Leo, who led during a difficult time for the Roman

Catholic Church and helped marshal it into the modern world. Leo XIII — who was head of the church from 1878 to 1903, one of the longest reigns in papal history — is known for his 1891

encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” which strongly defended the rights of working people to a living wage and set the tone for the church’s modern social doctrine. He became known as the “pope of

the workers.” “Addressing the rising socialist threat — as the church saw it in the late 19th century,” Leo XIII “called on the church to reach out to a working class and to basically try to

ameliorate some of these goals of capitalism and to benefit the working class and work out an amicable relationship between capital and labor,” said David I. Kertzer, a professor at Brown

University whose book “Prisoner of the Vatican” examined the role of Leo XIII’s predecessor, Pius IX, the last sovereign ruler of the Papal States. “In that sense,” Leo XIII is “seen as a

kind of connection between the pre-modern and the modern church.” “The choice of name is a moderate reference, in that Leo XIII was a pre-modern pope and conservative in many ways, but he

was also a transitional figure reaching out to the poor,” said Professor Kertzer. “You could say he was a middle-of-the-roader.” The selection of the name Leo XIV “seems like a choice of

following Francis, but taking the edges off,” he added. Leo XIII was a strong pope who was “very much engaged in the issues of his time,” said Robert Orsi, a professor of religious studies

and history at Northwestern University. “He responded with authority and compassion to the industrial era” and defended workers’ rights and labor organizations. Choosing to be called Leo XIV

could signal the new pope’s intention “to equally engage the issues of his time,” Professor Orsi said. Pope Leo XIV referred to the notion of a global church open to the world in his first

address to the faithful on Thursday, which Professor Orsi said might be a signal “that he’ll be challenging resurgent nationalism everywhere in the world.” Mr. Bruni, the Vatican spokesman,

said that choosing the name of a pope associated with the church’s modern doctrine “was clearly a reference to the lives of men and women, to their work — even in an age marked by artificial

intelligence.” Leo XIII began his reign with the papacy having lost its temporal power when the Papal States it had ruled for hundreds of years were annexed by a unifying Italy in 1870. He

sought to reinforce that the role retained a moral authority that reached beyond national borders, said Roberto Rusconi, a church historian. Mr. Rusconi added that Leo XIII had also deepened

devotion to the Virgin Mary, writing 11 encyclicals on the rosary, the cycle of prayers invoking Mary that Catholics count out on rosary beads. Leo XIV recited the Hail Mary prayer at the

end of his first address on Thursday. Leo XIII was the first pope to appear on film. He founded the Vatican Observatory, a research institute, as a signal of the church's openness to

science. “It must be clear that the Church and its pastors do not oppose true and sound science, both human and divine, but that they embrace, encourage and promote it with all possible

commitment,” he wrote. Sarah Mervosh and TWO PRIESTS REFLECT ON THEIR LONGTIME FRIEND BOB, NOW POPE LEO XIV. On Thursday, Robert Francis Prevost was introduced to the world as Pope Leo XIV.

But as recently as last week, he was a low-profile cardinal just dining out with a friend in Rome. The friend, the Rev. Art Purcaro, an assistant vice president and adjunct professor at

Villanova University, had traveled to Italy to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination as a priest. He planned to have dinner with his family at Sor’Eva, a traditional Roman

restaurant on the Tiber, not far from Vatican City. And he wanted his good friend Cardinal Prevost, known to him simply as Bob, to join. The cardinal was unable to attend dinner because of

the Novemdiales, the nine days of mourning and Masses that were being held in honor of Pope Francis, who died on April 21. But then as dinner was wrapping up, Father Purcaro recalled, in

walked Bob. He held a black umbrella as he battled a rainy evening outside. “This is the type of person Bob Prevost is,” Father Purcaro said in a phone interview on Thursday. “He just popped

in.” The two priests have known each other for decades. They worked together in Peru, and later spent time together working in Rome. Father Purcaro eventually returned to Villanova — the

same school that the pope attended as an undergraduate. Father Purcaro described the new pope as an unambitious person, both reserved and prayerful. “Some people would stress the reserved

aspect of his personality, but that does not get across who Bob is,” he said. “Bob cares very much about people, especially those who have been left out,” he added, noting that came through

in their work in Peru. He praised his friend’s willingness “to leave behind any personal ambition, his family, his abilities, to put them to the service of others, to go to a foreign nation,

to become a bishop in a foreign country and to become a Peruvian citizen so he could serve as one for the people.” Another longtime friend, the Rev. Robert Hagan, said that Robert Prevost

was his mentor and superior when he was studying to become a priest in Racine, Wis., in the late 1990s. They watched Chicago Bulls games together, and over the years checked in about the

success of the men’s basketball team at Villanova, which they both attended. “He had a twinkle in his eye, a serenity in his face. He’s a man who is centered. He wasn’t about the drama. He

was calm,” said Father Hagan, who is now prior provincial in charge of the St. Augustinian order in the Philadelphia area. Hours after the new pope was announced, Father Hagan still had

trouble keeping his friend’s new name straight. “I think of him as Bob,” he said, adding that he was trying to retrain himself. “When he appeared on that balcony, it was as if a family

member appeared.” Interest in Pope Leo XIV, and in the people who knew him earlier in his life, has been intense. A few hours after the pope was announced, Father Hagan said he received 351

texts and 400 emails about the news. But he never saw a careerist plotting an ascent to power. “The papacy is certainly not something that I could ever see Bob Prevost aspire to,” Father

Hagan said. “I think he was just doing what he felt God was calling him to do.” Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT WHAT DOES POPE LEO XIV DO NOW? The highly choreographed and secretive process

of electing a pope technically came to an end when Pope Leo XIV was introduced on Thursday. But the oath of secrecy is frequently, and unofficially, kept for just a bit longer, according to

Joelle Rollo-Koster, a professor of history at the University of Rhode Island. “We can only imagine — with an educated imagination” exactly what happens when the pope returns to the halls

of St. Peter’s Basilica, Dr. Rollo-Koster said. Indeed, the next few days in the pope’s life will be a mix of private decisions and public presentations. The Vatican said that Pope Leo XIV

will celebrate Mass on Friday at the Sistine Chapel with the cardinals who voted for him. On Sunday, he will recite the Regina Coeli at St. Peter’s Basilica. The end of the conclave does not

mean the end of politicking. In addition to sharing congratulations, cardinals who elected the pope may more explicitly share why they voted for him, and what kind of leadership they want

to see as a result. On Monday, he is scheduled to meet with journalists at the Vatican for the first time as pope. Pope Leo XIV must also soon decide where he wants to live. While most popes

choose to live in the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis chose to live in the Vatican guesthouse. The Vatican shared Pope Francis’s choice of residence about two weeks after he was elected.

PERU REJOICES OVER THE NEW POPE AND CLAIMS HIM AS THEIR OWN. While Pope Leo XIV made global headlines for becoming the first American pope, he is also a citizen of Peru, a country where he

spent a significant part of his career and where his election was celebrated as the elevation of one of their own. “Many people here are very moved,” said the Rev. Elmer Uchofen, a priest in

Chiclayo, where the pope served as bishop. “We are very excited. All the people have jumped. They have rejoiced in this church.” The bells of the Catholic cathedral in Lima, the capital,

rang when the news of the pope’s election was announced. Pope Leo XIV, who lived in the impoverished coastal city for nine years until moving to Rome in 2023, addressed “my beloved diocese

of Chiclayo in Peru, where a faithful people have accompanied their bishop” in his first speech in Vatican City as pontiff. Robert Francis Prevost first moved to Peru in 1985 as a missionary

working in remote rural regions at a time when the country was plagued by violence fomented by the Shining Path, a Maoist guerrilla movement that spread terror and death during the 1980s

and ’90s. He returned to the United States in 1998, but went back to Peru in 2014, to serve in Chiclayo and was soon appointed bishop and eventually became a Peruvian citizen. Those in the

church who knew him in Peru described him as kind, patient and devoted to helping the poor. He was heavily involved with Caritas, a nonprofit that focuses on serving the poor that is

operated by the church, and he worked in areas that experienced frequent flooding. He often delivered food and other supplies to residents, carrying bags of rice on his back, Father Uchofen

said. He sought to get to know as many people as possible in the 50 parishes he oversaw as bishop, and it was a bittersweet moment when Pope Francis summoned him to Rome to lead the Vatican

department that oversees the selection of bishops. “He was always aware of how we were doing in Chiclayo, helping us a lot” he said. The new pope is concerned about the poor and “sees the

world and the church from that perspective,” said the Rev. Peter Hughes, an Irish missionary priest who has lived in Lima for decades and works on environmental and Indigenous issues. “At

the same time, he’s kind of low-key, at least he was up until today,’’ he said. “He’s not a man that easily makes waves.” Like other church leaders, he became embroiled in a clergy sexual

abuse scandal during his time in Chiclayo. One woman in Chiclayo who said she and two other women were sexually abused by two priests as girls long before Cardinal Prevost was bishop accused

him of mishandling an investigation and of not stopping one of the priests from celebrating Mass. Father Uchofen and Rev. Hughes said they thought the new pope held many of the same

progressive values as Pope Francis and would continue his work of reforming the church and advocating for society’s most vulnerable people. But Rev. Hughes predicted the new pope would do it

“in a rather quiet way, not very spectacular.” “He will not be a flamboyant personality like Francisco by any means. He may not be very comfortable with crowds,” Rev. Hughes said. “But who

knows, he may grow into the job. He’s a surprising man.” LIBERALS EXPRESS CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM ABOUT THE NEW POPE’S VIEWS ON GAY CATHOLICS. Pope Leo XIV ascended to the papacy on Thursday with

little public record on L.G.B.T.Q. issues, a signature concern of his predecessor, Pope Francis, as well as a source of deep conflict between liberal and conservative Catholics.

Nevertheless, proponents of greater inclusion for gay and transgender people in the church said they were cautiously optimistic, even if they might not know much about the man who will now

lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. Until today, few people believed an American pope was a possibility. “We are sitting here Googling everything we can about the new pope,” said Francis

DeBernardo, who runs New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based group that promotes L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church. “I think he is the best we could have hoped for.” The Rev. James Martin, a

Jesuit writer and well-known proponent of outreach to L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics, said he was “stunned” that an American had been chosen, but that he “rejoiced in the selection” of the new pope,

whom he had met socially in the past. “I know him to be a down-to-earth, kind, modest, reserved guy, hardworking, decisive, not afraid of speaking his mind,” Father Martin said in a

statement. “It is a great choice.” Pope Francis was praised by admirers for his openness to members of the L.G.B.T.Q. community, his support for those who provided them with ministry and

spiritual guidance, and for the ways in which he changed the church’s tone — if not always its doctrine — on issues of gender and sexuality. Pope Leo has spent most of his career in rural

Peru and has never drawn wide attention for his positions on those issues. But reports that he had made scattered comments in the past that were critical of gay and transgender people had

left some in the L.G.B.T.Q. community nervously reading the tea leaves on Thursday. Mr. DeBernardo said he thought L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics should take a “wait and see approach” to Pope Leo, who

he said had never really appeared on his organization’s radar in its years of closely tracking the positions of church leaders. Still, he said it was worrying that Leo had made unfriendly

remarks in the past, including a 2012 speech in which he criticized the positive portrayal of the “homosexual lifestyle” in the Western media, which he said fostered “sympathy for beliefs

and practices that are at odds with the Gospel.” But Mr. DeBernardo said that the world is different now than it was in 2012, when opposition to many elements of gay rights remained

widespread. President Barack Obama, for example, announced that year that he had changed his position to support same-sex marriage. “A lot can change in 13 years,” Mr. DeBernardo said. “When

Francis was elected, it immediately came out that he had opposed marriage equality in Argentina in pretty strong terms,” Mr. DeBernardo said. “So when it comes to the comments Pope Leo made

about the ‘homosexual lifestyle,’ we are hoping that in the intervening 13 years that maybe he has opened up a little more on these issues.” During that time, Pope Leo moved from a rural

area in northern Peru to the heart of Rome, where he oversaw a Vatican office that helped Pope Francis vet and appoint a significant number of bishops who are seen as supportive of

L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church. He is also a Chicago native who is reputed to be close with Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, whom many consider one of the most open-minded cardinals in

the American church. Those clues do not add up to a strong endorsement of any one view, Mr. DeBernardo acknowledged. “If I was going to predict anything, I would predict that he is not going

to clamp down on L.G.B.T.Q. acceptance, but he probably will not support it in the way Francis did,” he said. “I do not think this will actively be part of Leo’s agenda.” Brian Flanagan, a

Catholic theologian at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University, said that Leo “does not seem to me like a pope who is going to turn things

backward.” Mr. Flanagan said the new pope’s early remarks were especially heartening because of their embrace of synodality, a way of governing the church that Francis favored, and which

includes input from lay people. “For me, synodality is really important because it creates a structure by which the entire Catholic Church can hear the voices of L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics,” he

said. “I am hoping that provides the space for the Catholic Church to continue to have a conversation about how sexuality and gender might be more complicated than we used to think they

were.” Michael Sennett, a master’s student in pastoral care at Fordham University, was part of a delegation of transgender and intersex people who traveled to Rome last October for an

audience with Pope Francis. Mr. Sennett said he was deeply affected by the new pope’s emotional greeting of the crowd at the Vatican on Thursday. “The way Pope Leo was so moved today when he

was standing on that balcony, delivering a message of love and unity — it reminded me so much of the spirit I felt when I was in Rome to meet Pope Francis,” he said. “I think the church

continues to be in good hands.” Pope Leo’s choice of his papal name also seems to indicate that he will continue the pastoral approach of Francis, who dedicated his papacy to reaching out to

people on the margins of society, Father Martin said. The new pope’s name appeared to be a tribute to Pope Leo XIII, the 19th-century pontiff who laid the groundwork for Catholic social

teaching, which emphasizes a concern for the welfare of the sick and the poor. But as much as the name may point to an interest in social justice, it may also indicate a focus on the issues

that matter to people in poor or war-torn countries, where gay rights are not high on the agenda, Mr. DeBernardo said. There is an irony, he said, in the idea that the first American pope

may also be a pontiff who is less concerned with American culture-war issues. “For so many bishops around the world, their main concerns are things like refugees and starvation, and

L.G.B.T.Q. issues are just not a pressing concern for their people,” he said. Richard Fausset and THE NEW POPE HAS CREOLE ROOTS IN NEW ORLEANS. Robert Francis Prevost, the Chicago-born

cardinal selected on Thursday as the new pope, is descended from Creole people of color from New Orleans. The pope’s maternal grandparents, both of whom are described as Black or “mulatto”

in various historical records, lived in the city’s Seventh Ward, an area that is traditionally Catholic and a melting pot of people with African, Caribbean and European roots. The

grandparents, Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié, eventually moved to Chicago in the early 20th century and had a daughter: Mildred Martinez, the pope’s mother. The discovery means that Leo

XIV, as the pope will be known, is not only breaking ground as the first U.S.-born pontiff. He also comes from a family that reflects the many threads that make up the complicated and rich

fabric of the American story. The pope’s background was unearthed Thursday by a New Orleans genealogist, Jari C. Honora, and confirmed to The New York Times by the pope’s older brother, John

Prevost, 71, who lives in the Chicago suburbs. “This discovery is just an additional reminder of how interwoven we are as Americans,” Mr. Honora said in a text message late Thursday. “I

hope that it will highlight the long history of Black Catholics, both free and enslaved, in this country, which includes the Holy Father’s family.” It’s unclear whether the new pope has ever

addressed his Creole ancestry in public, and his brother said that the family did not identify as Black. The announcement of his election in Rome focused on his early life in Chicago and

decades of service in Peru. Mr. Honora, who works at the Historic New Orleans Collection, a museum in the French Quarter, began investigating the pope’s background because of his

French-sounding name, Prevost, but quickly found connections to the South instead. His trail of evidence linking Leo to New Orleans includes the grandparents’ marriage certificate from their

Seventh Ward wedding in 1887, a photo of the Martinez family grave marker in Chicago, and an electronic birth record of Mildred Martinez that shows she was born in Chicago in 1912. The

birth record lists Joseph Martinez and “Louis Baquiex” as Mildred’s parents. The father’s birthplace is listed as the Dominican Republic; the mother’s, New Orleans. Mr. Honora also found

records from the 1900 Census that list Mr. Martinez as “Black,” his place of birth as “Hayti,” and his occupation as “cigar maker.” Mr. Martinez’s details appear on the sixth line of a page

of the census that Mr. Honora shared with The Times. “Both Joseph Norval Martinez and Louise Baquié were people of color, no doubt about it,” Mr. Honora said. Joseph Martinez’s exact place

of birth remains a bit of a mystery — Mr. Honora also found an 1870 Census record that says the pope’s maternal grandfather was born in Louisiana. But he said it was not uncommon for people

to change their responses on official records. Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié married at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans. Until it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1915, the

church building was on Annette Street in the city’s Seventh Ward, a historic center of Afro-Creole culture. Creoles, also known as “Creole people of color,” have a history almost as old as

Louisiana. While the word Creole can refer to people of European descent who were born in the Americas, it commonly describes mixed-race people of color. Many Louisiana Creoles were known in

the 18th and 19th centuries as “gens de couleur libres,” or free people of color. Many were well educated, French-speaking and Roman Catholic. Over the decades, they established a foothold

in business, the building trades and the arts, particularly music, with significant contributions to the development of jazz. They continue to be an important strand in the city’s famously

heterogeneous culture. The revelation of the new pope’s heritage is a tremendous moment for the history of Louisiana Creoles, said Lolita Villavasso Cherrie, a co-founder with Mr. Honora of

The Creole Genealogical and Historical Association. “I hate to say it, but we feel, many of us, that our history was hidden from us,” said Ms. Villavasso Cherrie, 79, a retired teacher. In

part, she said, that’s because many Creoles have been able to “pass” as white over the years. It was only with the advent of the internet, she said, that many people began to research their

family history and became aware of their Creole roots. She noted that a significant number of Louisiana Creoles migrated to the Chicago area in the 20th century. John Prevost, the pope’s

brother, said that their paternal grandparents were from France, and that his father had been born in the United States. He said he and his brothers didn’t discuss their Creole roots. “It

was never an issue,” John Prevost said. What all of this means, when it comes to the pope’s racial identity, touches on some of the thorniest questions in U.S. society, but also reflects the

rich diversity of the American experience. “We are all just a few degrees (or less than a few degrees) removed from each other,” said Mr. Honora, the genealogist. Julie Bosman contributed

reporting from Chicago. Susan C. Beachy contributed research. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT AN URGENT QUESTION FOR THE POPE: CUBS OR SOX? In Chicago, a city where baseball allegiance has

no middle ground, one of the first questions people asked was whether the Chicago-born pope cheered for the White Sox or the Cubs. The lines dividing Cubs and Sox fans are not always clear.

Generally speaking, North Siders root for the Cubs, since Wrigley Field is on their side of the city. South Siders are usually loyal to the Sox, who play at Rate Field in Bridgeport, on the

South Side. Suburbanites tend to follow the same geographical divisions, but are sometimes considered a gray area. Fans from both sides seemed to initially claim the new pope as their own. A

spokeswoman for the Cubs first said that she could not confirm whether he was a fan, and issued a statement from Tom Ricketts, the executive chairman of the Cubs, assuring the new pope that

he would be welcomed at Wrigley Field. “Not only would we welcome Pope Leo XIV to Wrigley Field, he could sing ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ or, since three of his predecessors visited

Yankee Stadium, including Pope Paul VI who delivered the 1965 ‘Sermon on the Mound,’ we would invite the pontiff to do the same at the Friendly Confines,” Mr. Ricketts said. By afternoon,

the marquee at Wrigley Field declared that the new pope was a Cubs fan. But in suburban Chicago, the pope’s brother John Prevost set the record straight to WGN, a television station that for

decades broadcast Cubs games and helped create a fan base far beyond Chicago. “He was never, ever a Cubs fan,” Mr. Prevost said. “So I don’t know where that came from. He was always a Sox

fan.” Mitch Smith and THE MAN WHO IS NOW POPE VOTED OFTEN IN ILLINOIS, PUBLIC RECORDS SHOW. Pope Leo XIV has voted several times in his home state of Illinois in recent years, public records

show, including with an absentee ballot in last November’s presidential election. According to records from Will County, in suburban Chicago, the pope has voted in three Republican

primaries since 2012 and no Democratic primaries in that time. He most recently voted in a Republican primary in 2016. The records show that he did not vote in Will County in the 2020

presidential election or in the 2022 midterm election. In Illinois, where Democrats dominate in statewide elections, voters do not register as members of a political party. American citizens

living outside the country remain eligible to vote. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT AMERICAN CHURCH LEADERS SIGNAL SUPPORT FOR LEO XIV AND FOR THE CONTINUATION OF FRANCIS’ PRIORITIES. The

earliest reactions from leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States are starting to come in. Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, the archbishop emeritus of Boston who was one of Pope

Francis’ top advisers, offered strong support for Pope Leo XIV, signaling that cardinals close to Pope Francis believe his priorities and reforms will be carried on. “Pope Leo XIV has chosen

a name widely associated with the social justice legacy of Pope Leo XIII, who was pontiff at a time of epic upheaval in the world, the time of the industrial revolution, the beginning of

Marxism, and widespread immigration,” Cardinal O’Malley said. “The new pope’s rich pastoral experience in Latin America and as leader of an international religious community, and the years

spent in Rome, will all provide valuable preparation for his new ministry as pope.” Cardinal O’Malley, 80, was not eligible to vote in the conclave because of his age, 80. He pointed to Pope

Leo XIV’s frequent references to peace in his opening words to the world, and noted that they point to the mission of the church to be “a leaven for unity in the human family.” Archbishop

Timothy P. Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, rejoiced “in the international experience of the new Bishop of Rome.” “Certainly, we rejoice that a son of

this nation has been chosen by the cardinals, but we recognize that he now belongs to all Catholics and to all people of good will,” he said. “His words advocating peace, unity, and

missionary activity already indicate a path forward.”