Breaking News: Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been selected as the first American pope to the the 1.4 billion- member Catholic church. He has chosen the name Pope Leo XIV

The Roman Catholic Church made history on Thursday, choosing Chicago-born missionary Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago as the first American pope.

Prevost, who appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica about an hour after the news broke, announced he had chosen the name Leo XIV. Now the 267th pontiff, he was elected on the fourth ballot.

Dressed in the traditional white papal cassock and ceremonial fisherman’s ring, Prevost’s first words from the balcony were the traditional Catholic greeting, “Peace be with you.” He stressed the need to build bridges, saying people needed “to be a single people,” always in peace.

His appearance followed excitement earlier in the day sparked by the sight of white smoke billowing from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney, the traditional signal that the College of Cardinals had elected a new pontiff. Raucous cheers and applause could be heard from a crowd that seemed to multiply exponentially in St. Peter’s Square.