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Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected pope, making his election the first time an American has been elected to the highest position in the Roman Catholic Church. Prevost, 69, chose to take the name Leo XIV.

White smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney Thursday, May 8, to signal a new pontiff had been selected after the second day of the papal conclave, where 133 cardinals partook in a secret election to elect a new pope. A two-thirds majority is needed to elect a new pope.

The papal conclave was held following the death of Pope Francis, who died on April 21.

Prevost appeared at the balcony in St. Peter’s Basilica to thousands awaiting to see the new pope, where thanked his fellow cardinals for selecting him, and addressed the world in Italian, Spanish and Latin.

Prevost’s message to the world was a message of peace to “enter your hearts, reach your families and all people, wherever they are.”

While born in Chicago, Prevost has spent the majority of his life in Peru as a missionary and archbishop, where he acquired Peruvian citizenship in 2015. Francis would bring Prevost to Rome in 2023 where he was appointed to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and later on to serve as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, where he was responsible for evaluating and recommending candidates for the episcopate around the world.

U.S. President Donald Trump gave his congratulations to the new pope in a statement on social media.

“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope,” Trump said. “It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”