Cardinal Robert Prevost has taken the name Leo XIV. He is the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.

As a missionary, Prevost, 69, spent his career ministering in Peru and led the Vatican's powerful office of bishops.

White smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney Thursday at 6:07 p.m. local time, signaling that a pontiff had been elected to lead the Catholic Church.

• Who is Robert Prevost? The former pope, Francis, brought Prevost, 69, to the Vatican in 2023 to serve as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations from around the world, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church. As a result, Prevost has a prominence going into the conclave that few other cardinals had.