A new pope at the Vatican - 19th May 2025

White smoke rose from the Vatican recently. The smoke told everyone there was a new pope. Just before, the cardinals chose their leader.

Thousands of people entered St Peter's Square in Rome. They wanted to see the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal Dominique Mamberti said "We have a pope". He spoke in Latin.

There's an American pope for the first time. His name's Robert Francis Prevost. Many people, like this priest from Washington, were surprised.

Reverend Monsignor W Ronald Jameson: "Very proud, but I must say, I was totally shocked and I was not expecting an American being named Pope. I thought, never in my lifetime, maybe later, but not in my lifetime."

Prevost now has a special name. It's Pope Leo XIV.

The new Pope is 69 years old. He was born in the USA. But his family is French, Italian and Spanish. He lived in Peru for a long time too. He's a citizen of that country. Many hope he'll be like Pope Francis, the pope before him.

Azul Montemayor: "I'm a bit surprised. I was not expecting an American to be elected and I'm just, I'm hoping that he carries on Francis's legacy of just being more inclusive."

Pope Leo attended a big ceremony on 18th May. He's now the leader of 1.4 billion Roman Catholics.