Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, May 8. (REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane)

Prevost, 69, and originally from Chicago, has spent most of his career as a missionary in Peru. He became a cardinal only in 2023. His predecessor Francis, who died last month, brought him to Rome that year to head the Vatican office in charge of choosing which priests should serve as Catholic bishops across the globe.

In his first speech, given from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica shortly after his election, Pope Leo emphasized peace and dialogue.

“Help us too, then help each other to build bridges - with dialogue, with encounter, uniting all of us to be one people always in peace,” he said.

One of the clues to what kind of a Church leader Leo will be was in his choice of name, something that pontiffs often use to send a signal about the priorities of their new papacy.

The last pope with this name was Leo XIII, who led the Church from 1878-1903. He was known for his devoted focus to social justice issues, and is often credited with laying the foundation for modern Catholic social teaching.