Robert Prevost, a missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and leads the Vatican's powerful office of bishops, was elected the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Robert Prevost has been announced as the next head of the Catholic Church. He is the first pope from the US and took the papal name Leo XIV. DW has more.

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church after a conclave that began on May 7. Following his election, he adopted the name Pope Leo XIV. Worldwide celebrations erupted among Catholic faithful after white smoke billowed from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel.