Former Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the United States was selected Thursday by the papal conclave to succeed Pope Francis and lead the Roman Catholic Church. The new pontiff, who has taken the name Leo XIV,

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.

The conclave has elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, an American-born cleric, as the new popeNow the 267th pontiff, he will be known as Pope Leo XIV as he assumes the mantle of spiritual leadership over more than 1.