Historic Papal Election: Pope Leo XIV Becomes First American Pontiff — and Sparks Controversy Among MAGA Supporters

On the evening of May 8, 2025, white smoke rose above the Sistine Chapel, signaling to the world that the Catholic Church had chosen its new leader. Moments later, American-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, 69, stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as Pope Leo XIV — the first pope to take the name “Leo” in more than a century, and the first American pope in history.