San Francisco Frontiers - Leo XIV, the 'Latin Yankee', to celebrate first mass as pope

Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost became on Thursday the 267th pope, spiritual leader to the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, after a secret conclave by his fellow cardinals in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.

At 11:00 am (0900 GMT) Friday, the 69-year-old sometimes referred to in Rome as the "Latin Yankee" for his time as a missionary in Peru, will return to the chapel to celebrate a private mass with cardinals that will be broadcast by the Vatican, delivering his much-anticipated first homily as pope.

Tens of thousands of well-wishers cheered Leo as he appeared on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica on Thursday evening -- with many having no idea who the modest man before them was.

The American, who spent two decades in Peru and was only made a cardinal in 2023, had been on many Vatican watchers' lists of potential popes, although he is far from being a globally recognised figure.

Over the coming days, from Friday's mass to Sunday's midday Regina Coeli prayer and a meeting with journalists at the Vatican on Monday, the actions and words of Leo will be closely scrutinised.

Across the globe in Peru, well-wishers including the bishop of El Callao outside Lima, Luis Alberto Barrera, saluted the Augustinian's engagement in the Andean country.

"He showed his closeness and simplicity with the people," Barrera told AFP.

"He was a very simple person who adapted to everything, like any good missionary."

In Chicago, locals celebrated his love of baseball, deep-dish pizza and his working-class South Side neighbourhood in the United States' third-largest city.

The Chicago Tribune called him "the pride and joy of every priest and nun" at his local parish, where he went to school and served as an altar boy.

- Build bridges -

In his first speech to the crowds packed into St Peter's Square on Thursday evening, Leo echoed his predecessor Pope Francis with a call for peace.

"Help us, and each other, to build bridges through dialogue, through encounter, to come together as one people, always in peace," he said.

"We must seek together how to be a missionary Church, a Church that builds bridges, which holds dialogues, which is always open."

World leaders raced to welcome his election and promised to work with the Church on global issues at a time of great geopolitical uncertainty.

Leo faces a momentous task. As well as asserting his moral voice on a conflict-torn world stage, he must try to unite a divided Church and tackle burning issues such as the continued fallout from the sexual abuse scandal.

As Cardinal Prevost, the new pope had defended the poor and underprivileged and had reposted articles online critical of US President Donald Trump's anti-migrant policies.

But Trump nevertheless welcomed his election, saying on Thursday it was a "great honour" to have a pope from the United States.

It was not known how many ballots it took to elect Leo XIV, but the conclave followed recent history, wrapping up in less than two days.

- Consensus candidate -

The crowds erupted with cheers when white smoke billowed into the sky from the Sistine Chapel chimney, the traditional sign that a new pope has been elected.

"I'm not an overly religious person but, being here with all these people just blew me away," said 39-year-old Joseph Brian from Belfast in Northern Ireland.

With the choice of Prevost, experts said, the cardinals had opted for continuity with the late Francis, a progressive from Argentina who shook up the Church in his 12-year papacy.

"He is a moderate consensus candidate who fits into a soft continuity, a gentle continuity with Pope Francis, who will not alienate conservatives," said Francois Mabille, a researcher at the Paris-based think tank IRIS and author of a book on Vatican strategy.

"At least, he has not alienated them."

Vatican watchers agreed that Prevost's more soft-spoken style should help him as he navigates turbulent waters on the international stage, acting as a counterpoint to more divisive voices.

"It is a posthumous success for Pope Francis, with undoubtedly some different accents and embodiment of the pontifical role," said Mabille.

L.Nguyen--SFF