Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost made history on May 8, 2025, when he stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as the new Pope. He announced to the world that his name is now Pope Leo XIV, the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

Catholics around the world were skeptical at first about an American pope. But Pope Leo XIV’s multicultural and multilingual identity has put them at ease.

News that the global Catholic church would get its first-ever U.S.-born pope was welcomed by Catholics across the ideological spectrum in Pope Leo XIV’s homeland, raising the question of whether he mi