Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, a 69-year-old Chicago native and Villanova University graduate, was elected Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, becoming the first American to lead the Roman Catholic Church. He stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to cheers and greeted the crowd with a blessing of “Peace be with you,” delivered in Italian before switching to Spanish to emphasize unity and compassion for those suffering.

Prevost’s election on the conclave’s second day surprised Vatican observers, breaking a long-held taboo against choosing a U.S.-born pontiff. “Most of us thought a U.S. cardinal would never become pope, but Prevost got strong support from cardinals from Latin America where he worked for 20 years,” said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Catholic commentator, noting the new pope’s extensive missionary service in Peru. Leo XIV succeeds Pope Francis, who died last month, and is the 267th pontiff in the Church’s 2,000-year history.

For much of his career, Prevost served as an Augustinian missionary in Peru and later became bishop of Chiclayo in the country’s northwest. Pope Francis brought him to Rome in 2023 to lead the Vatican office that vets Catholic bishops worldwide, elevating him to cardinal shortly thereafter. Church analysts say that background — an American who spent decades in Latin America — made Prevost a bridge-building choice who “transcends borders” in a rapidly globalizing Church.

Local pride is swelling in Philadelphia, where Prevost earned a mathematics degree from Villanova University in 1977. He is the first pope to have graduated from a Philadelphia-area college, a distinction celebrated on Villanova’s campus with ringing church bells and prayer services. “We celebrate this significant day for our university community and the global Church,” said the Rev. Peter Donohue, Villanova’s president, noting that the humble Augustinian friar-turned-pontiff embodies the values of service and learning that Villanova holds dear.

Kathy Cedarberg, 69, earned an accounting degree from Villanova in 1977, part of the first class of women permitted to live on campus all four years. Now, she has another reason to celebrate: she went to school with the new pope — though she had no idea at the time.

Cedarberg, a devout Catholic who lives in Massachusetts, had been following the two-day conclave casually but began paying closer attention when she saw white smoke rise from the Sistine Chapel chimney. Since then, she said, her four adult children have flooded her phone with texts and calls asking about Pope Leo XIV.

“It’s not that earth-shattering,” Cedarberg said. “I don’t remember him, but we all would have eaten in the same cafeteria and done our laundry in the same laundry room.” Catholic leaders in the United States hailed Leo XIV’s rise as a moment of history and hope, as one of their own takes the helm of the worldwide Church for the first time.