69-Year-Old Robert Prevost Elected as 267th Pope Leo XIV, First American with Peruvian Citizenship

Robert Prevost, a 69-year-old American with Peruvian citizenship, has been elected as Pope Leo XIV, becoming the 267th pontiff and the first U.S. citizen to assume the papacy. The announcement of his election coincided with the ongoing Masters 1000 tennis tournament in Rome, where his image was displayed on screens during a match, eliciting applause from the audience.

Pope Leo XIV, who has a passion for tennis and is a fan of the Chicago Cubs and Alianza Lima, expressed his desire to return to the sport, having been an avid player during his time in Peru.

The new pontiff faces significant challenges, including addressing the Church's financial difficulties, with an 83 million euro budget shortfall and a 631 million euro pension gap. He must also deal with the ongoing issue of clerical sexual abuse and navigate the Church's stance on issues such as the role of women, the acceptance of the LGBTQ community, and relations with countries like China and the United States under President Donald Trump.

Leo XIV's approach to these challenges will be closely watched, as he aims to continue the path set by his predecessor, Pope Francis, while also imprinting his own style on the papacy. The Church, with 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, is experiencing a decline in Europe, with only 29 new priests ordained in Germany in 2024 and 321,000 German Catholics leaving the Church that year.