United States Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected the first US pontiff in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church and has taken the name Pope Leo XIV.
Pope Leo made his first public appearance to impart a blessing from the roofed area of St Peter’s Basilica. In his first public words, Pope Leo told the faithful “peace be with all of you”. He emphasised the theme of peace throughout the address.
“Evil will not prevail; we are in the hands of God,” he told the crowd and a global audience. “So without fear, united hand in hand with God and among ourselves, we go forward.”
“Thank you, Pope Francis,” he added. The new church leader called for a “missionary church…that builds bridges, is always open to welcome everyone”.
“He is clearly setting the tone for his papacy,” Al Jazeera Hoda Abdel-Hamid reported from Vatican City.
