Pope Leo XIV

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Leo XIV (born September 14, 1955, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.) is the pope, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected to the papacy on May 8, 2025, succeeding Pope Francis and becoming the first American pope in history. An Augustinian priest who performed extensive missionary work in Peru and served as head of the Augustinian order from 2001 to 2013, he was made a cardinal by Francis in 2023. He brings a reputation for being a fair, deft administrator and a political moderate, and he is expected to continue his predecessor’s agenda for the church.

Quick Facts

• Born: September 14, 1955, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
• Reign as pope: May 8, 2025–
• Preceded by: Pope Francis

Leo’s vision for the church

In his first address as pope, Leo XIV told the crowd assembled in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, “I am a son of St. Augustine, an Augustinian. He said, ‘With you I am a Christian, for you a bishop.’ So may we all walk together towards that homeland that God has prepared for us.”

Notably, the last pope to choose Leo as a papal name, Leo XIII (reigned 1878–1903), was known for his conciliatory approach to civil governments, for his concern toward renewing a dialogue between the church and the modern world, and for authoring Rerum novarum (1891; “Of New Things), a landmark papal encyclical that addressed the economic and social problems created by the Industrial Revolution and laid down the principles of Catholic social teaching. For Catholics worldwide, the new pope’s choice of a name and his professional history signified that he planned to bring a similar diplomatic and unifying spirit to church divisions and a pastoral approach to issues of social justice.

(Read about why the name a pope chooses matters.)

Indeed, two days after the conclave that elected him, Leo explained his choice of name to the College of Cardinals, noting the historic message of Rerum novarum and its relevance in the age of artificial intelligence. In that address, Leo also asked the cardinals to renew their commitment to the principles of the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), which introduced sweeping modernizing changes in the church, and to Pope Francis’s 2013 document Evangelii gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”), which envisions a church that embraces its global diversity and champions the poor.

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