White Smoke Rises in the Vatican

On May 8, the conclave in the Vatican concluded with the election of a new leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The cardinals chose Robert Francis Prevost from Chicago, USA, as the new Pope. He becomes the 267th pontiff in history and has taken the name Leo XIV.

The traditional signal of the election—a plume of white smoke rising from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel—announced that one of the candidates had received the required number of votes and accepted the papacy.

According to The New York Times, Robert Prevost is the first American in history to lead the Roman Catholic Church. His first words to the faithful were: “Peace be with you.”

The previous pope, Francis, passed away on April 21 at the age of 88. He had led the Church since 2013. He was buried on April 26, with his casket interred at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

The conclave began on the evening of May 7 and lasted just over a day. The cardinals held four rounds of voting, and Prevost secured more than the required two-thirds majority—89 out of 133 possible votes.

For comparison, the conclaves that elected Popes Francis, Benedict XVI, and John Paul II each lasted two to three days. The longest conclave in history took place in the second half of the 13th century and lasted nearly three years.