Who is Pope Leo XIV? A Bio of the First American Pope, by Jonah McKeown

By Jonah McKeown, CNA, May 8, 2025

Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and podcast producer for Catholic News Agency. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer. He is based in St. Louis.

CNA Staff, May 8, 2025 / 15:52 pm – Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, May 8 — the first pope from the United States.

Smiling and waving while wearing more traditional papal garb than his predecessor — and appearing to hold back tears at certain points — Leo blessed the cheering masses assembled in St. Peter’s Square, proclaiming in confident Italian: “Peace be with you all!”

An Augustinian and a canon lawyer, Prevost spent over a decade ministering in South America before being called back to the U.S. to head the Midwest Augustinians and was later elected prior general of the Augustinian order, serving in that role for a dozen years. He later returned to South America after Pope Francis in 2014 appointed him bishop in Chiclayo, Peru. Francis later called him to Rome in 2023 to head the highly influential Dicastery for Bishops. …