P olitical figures around the world have congratulated Robert Francis Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, after his election on Thursday, May 8, as pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. Hailing from Chicago and a dual U.S.-Peru national, Prevost is the first North American Pope and second from the Americas, after his late predecessor Francis.

Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, becoming the first pope from the United States and defying a longstanding belief that church leaders would never select a pope from a global superpower that already has considerable influence in world affairs.