ORLANDO, Fla. – The elevation of Cardinal Robert Prevost to Pope Leo XIV marks a historic first: he’s the first U.S.-born pontiff ever elected. Prevost, a Chicago native, is the first pope ever elected who was born in the United States (he is a citizen of both the U.S. and Peru).
Pope Leo XIV’s papal conclave is just the third one to take place this century. In fact, Pope Leo XIV is only the 267th pope, ever. That may sound like a lot, but popes leading the Catholic church date all the way back to 30 AD, with the apostle St. Peter being widely recognized as the first pope.
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Leo XIV was elected on the second day of the conclave, with 133 of 135 eligible cardinals voting (the two cardinals who missed the voting declined to attend because of health reasons). There are 252 cardinals in the Catholic church; only cardinals under the age of 80 can participate in voting for a new pope.
Electing a new pope has, as of late, become a fairly streamlined process. The last time cardinals took more than a month to elect a pope was in 1831.
Let’s talk about the process:
The longest papal conclave lasted almost three years: 1,006 days (it took place in 1271). That vote was drawn out because political and outside influences muddled the voting of the participating cardinals. The term “conclave” (the process by which a pope is elected by cardinals), is Latin for “room that can be locked up” because, well, after that dysfunctional vote, cardinals were literally locked away to keep the voting secretive and deter pressure from outsiders.
The 1271 election was split between rival factions. The votes were split between supporters of two main geopolitical medieval factions at the time, cardinals faithful to the papacy versus those in support of the Holy Roman Empire. To avoid a process like that ever occurring again, Pope Gregory X (the man who was eventually elected to the position in 1271), decreed in 1274 a set of rules to get cardinals to keep the process moving at the risk of spending an “uncomfortable” amount of time bickering and arguing. The name of the game became compromise over conflict.
As for the length of conclaves, before 1274, there were instances of new popes being elected on the same day of their predecessor’s death. Today however, conclaves don’t commence until 15 days after a pope’s death in order to give cardinals time to travel to the Vatican.
Leo XIV was elected on the fourth ballot of two days of voting. His predecessor, Pope Francis was elected on the fifth ballot of two days of voting and Francis’ predecessor, Benedict, was elevated to Pope on the fourth ballot (also in two days).
And finally, let’s talk about names.
The most popular name for a pope has been John (used 21 times), followed by Gregory (16), and Benedict (15). With Cardinal Prevost’s election, “Leo” joins the ranks of papal names used 14 times, tying with “Clement.”
Speaking of Leo, Pope Leo XIII (elected in 1878) was 93 years old when he died in 1903, making him the all-time oldest pope. Pope Francis, who died less than a month ago, was the second-oldest pope- he was 88 years old. Francis was also the first Latin American pope and the first from the Americas.
And finally, why did Cardinal Prevost pick the name Leo? Bishop John Noonan of the diocese of Orlando has a theory that he shared with News 6 anchor Ginger Gadsden earlier today:
“Leo the 13th of the 1800s was kind of a social justice pope. (Prevost has) now taken the name of Leo the 14th. So I would expect him to be a man who is for the people and for the world for those who are underprivileged, those who are seeking justice, those who are on the peripheries of life. I think that’s what he’s going to focus on,” Noonan said.